‘Good to be back’ – Kyrgios returns to action after clay-court hiatus

He’s never normally short of words, but Nick Kyrgios opted to go with a very short message on Instagram after his first match in two months.

“Good to be back,” he wrote on his Stories.

The Australian had opted to skip the entire European clay-court swing, and last played in Houston, reaching the semi-final there before losing 6-3, 7-5 to Reilly Opelka.

He explained he and his girlfriend had jointly made the decision to head back to Australia after that tournament, saying: “We already decided to go home and have that time. The time at home is crucial because the next trip [to Europe] is three months. That time at home is so valuable…we’re both very family-orientated so we have to make sure that circle remains tight.”  

Kyrgios – I didn’t have my grass-court shoes

Now he’s back and in apparently fine form, beating Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the Stuttgart first round. And that was despite a mix-up with his luggage, meaning his grass-court kit and shoes hadn’t arrived before he took to the doubles court partnering Alexander Bublik on Monday.

The bags turned up on Monday evening, though, so he was fully equipped for the start of his singles campaign.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” he said afterwards. “I didn’t have the best preparation here. My tennis bag didn’t come until yesterday, I didn’t have grass-court shoes, I had my clay-court shoes. There was a bit of adversity, but I’m feeling good moving forward.”

Now ranked 78th in the world, Kyrgios is unseeded in Stuttgart, and faces fifth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the round of 16 on Thursday.

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