Kyrgios wins again on clay 1,055 days later

Nick Kyrgios returned to a clay court at the Houston tournament on Tuesday after almost three years without competing on this surface. Despite the Australian’s animosity towards clay, Kyrgios managed to culminate his return to clay with a comeback against American Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 6-3, 6-4demonstrating the great moment of the game that the tennis player from Canberra is going through.

You have to go back to the 2019 Rome Masters 1,000, 1,055 days ago, where he was disqualified after throwing a chair in the middle of the court during his match against Casper Ruud, to find Kyrgios’ last match on clay. In fact, in that tournament he managed to knock out Russian Daniil Medvedev, then number 14 in the ranking, in the first round. Kyrgios’ successful return to clay comes hours after the tennis player himself confirmed that he will play Roland Garros in 2023 because his girlfriend “wants to see Paris.”

At a press conference, Kyrgios himself expressed his feelings after the victory. “Clay court is obviously not my favorite surface, but I have served very well (he had 18 aces and left some of his usual shots below the legs) and I have started to play more aggressive and put another gear into the game. It was a bit slippery but my game adapts well to clay. There is a great atmosphere here and the fans are very supportive, so I hope to continue in the tournament.” Now Kyrgios will be seen in the second round with the American Tommy Paul, who went through the withdrawal of the German Peter Gojowczyk when he won 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5) and 3-2.

Feliciano falls and the champion Garín advances

Feliciano López, the only Spanish representative in the final table of the tournament, fell in the first round against the Dutchman from the previous Gijs Brouwer 6-4 and 6-2. ‘Feli’ was weighed down by his low percentages of points won with the serve and by not having been able to save three of the five break balls he had against. Brouwer, who went to the final table with controversy after his match against Steven Díaz will be seen in the second round with the American JJ Wolfwho gave the surprise of the day after beating his compatriot Jenson Brooksby by a double 6-4.

Who did not fail was the current champion of the tournament, the Chilean Cristian Garín, who sweated a lot to beat the veteran Jack Sock 4-6, 6-3 and 7-5. Garín will face Australian Jordan Thompson in the second round, who defeated Canadian lucky loser Steven Diez 6-3, 6-2.