Kyrgios earns first win in over 2 yrs

Nick Kyrgios won a match for the first time in nearly 2 1/2 years at the Miami Open, beating Mackie McDonald 3-6 6-3 6-4 while wearing a thick wrap of beige tape on his surgically repaired right wrist that he said was numb after he took five painkillers.

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“I'm not going to lie: I was pretty close to crying on court. I just think about the last two years, and it's been pretty brutal, to be honest,” said Kyrgios, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2022 on Wednesday.

“I was in a cast for 12 weeks. Couldn't move my wrist. And the surgeons were saying I'd never play again. So I was listening to a lot of the outside noise — whether I'd be able to play at this level and win. Playing's one thing, but winning matches and executing is another thing.” The Australian, who turns 30 next month, hadn't come out on the right end of an official contest since October 2022, when he defeated Kamil Majchrzak at a tournament in Tokyo and then withdrew before what would have been a matchup against Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals.

Since then, Kyrgios needed operations for a torn ligament in his wrist and on his knee, sidelining him for nearly all of 2023 — when he competed once in singles — and all of the 2024 season.

Kyrgios, one of the named plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday by players against groups that run tennis, began this year with an 0-3 record until Wednesday.

The lack of competition has dropped him from a career high of No. 13 all the way down to No. 892 in the ATP rankings; he was able to enter the Miami field thanks to a protected ranking. He was a semifinalist in this hard-court tournament in 2016 and 2017.

“I used to actually win a fair bit, so this kind of feels normal, but I don't think it's really sunk it that I was in a place where I couldn't hit a fluffy tennis ball to now beating a solid player,” said Kyrgios, who delivered 13 aces on Wednesday.

“We pretty much grew up together through juniors. He's an insane workhorse. So professional. Always shows up. Pretty much the opposite of what I do,” Kyrgios said with a smile.