Kyrgios falls to Mpetshi Perricard on comeback debut at Brisbane Open

Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard advanced to the second round of the Brisbane Open by edging out Australian Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3) at the Queensland Tennis Centre on Tuesday.

Playing his first singles match on tour comeback, Kyrgios faced quality opposition in Mpetshi Perricard as their three-setter extended to two hours, 30 minutes.

“Playing against Nick was a good match for me, he did some good things during the match,” said the Frenchman (via ATPTour.com). “He was very confident, a good serve. I tried my best and it worked. It was very exciting to play this one, and I’m very happy to get the win. I knew it was going to be a serve match. I hope I will have a nice recovery and be back in two days.”

Mpetshi Perricard, ranked No 31, will play American Frances Tiafoe, the No 4 seed, next.

Mpetshi Perricard fires 36 aces

Mpetshi Perricard lived up to the big-serving phenomenon as he fired a staggering 36 aces down Kyrgios’ side of the court.

Interestingly, the match-up saw no breaks of serve as the two players saved two break points each, playing three tiebreakers.

The youngster surprisingly fared poorer on first serve landing, averaging 66 percent to the Aussie’s 76. However, he produced better numbers on the first-serve points, winning 89 percent of the time against Kyrgios’ 83.

Brisbane ATP 250, other first-round results (Queensland Tennis Centre, hard, USD 766.290, most recent results first):

• Novak Djokovic vs. Rinky Hijikata
• Nishesh Basavareddy vs. Gael Monfils
• Dusan Lajovic (LL) beat Arthur Cazaux: 6-4, 6-4
• Jakub Mensik beat Mikhail Kukushkin (Q): 7-6 (3), 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe beat Adam Walton (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Alexei Popyrin (7): 6-3, 6-2
• Reilly Opelka beat Federico Agustin Gomez (Q): 7-5, 6-4
• Jiri Lehecka beat Holger Rune (3): 7-5, 6-3
• Grigor Dimitrov (2) beat Yannick Hanfmann (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Nicolas Jarry beat Mariano Navone: 7-5, 7-6 (7)
• Jordan Thompson (8) beat Matteo Berrettini: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Yoshihito Nishioka (Q) beat Arthur Rinderknech: 6-3, 6-4
• Alex Michelsen beat Christopher O’Connell: 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10)
• Benjamin Bonzi (Q) beat Alejandro Tabilo (6): 6-7 (8), 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Aleksandar Vukic (WC) beat David Goffin: 6-2, 6-3

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