Australian tennis sensation Nick Kyrgios was out of action for around a year. The former Australian Open quarterfinalist is part of the ATP Melbourne 2021. It is a challenger trophy being played in Melbourne.

He faced French tennis player Alexander Muller in the first round and registered his first win of the season, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4). 

It was their first meeting on Tour and to everyone’s surprise, Kyrgios was down in the match after losing the opening set. The match began with both players serving consistently.

Until the Australian player handed over a break to Muller, which gave him the opportunity to serve for the opening set and won 6-3. 

Nick Kyrgios clinches the second set after falling short in the first

As the second set began, Nick looked to brush aside the result of the opening set and held serve. He got the early break required and sailed smoothly to take a 5-2 lead.

Soon after, Nick suffered a slight scare when the Frenchman broke back and had a chance to level things up in the set. However, Kyrgios broke right back and clinched the set 6-4, after an hour since the match began. 

Before the final set began, the Australian star took a medical time out for treatment on his left knee. Once the set began, both players held their service games with great effect. They were on serve till the 12th game of the 3rd set and forced the match to go into a tiebreaker at 6-6. 

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 As the tiebreaker began, the Australian star took the early lead and broke his opponent immediately to race 4-1 ahead. Finally, after 1-hour and 52 minutes, Nick served for the match, winning the set 7-6 (4), and moved into the next round. 

Nick Kyrgios: Any Opponent for Me Would Be Tricky

After the match, Nick said, “Yeah, it was a tricky one. I haven’t played a competitive match in about a year. And I dealt with a couple of injuries during the quarantine.

“I was excited to be out here, and any opponent for me today would be tricky. To have my first match in my own backyard with pretty much the full stadium brought back some early memories of the Australian Open.”

The Australian talent knew he would face difficulties as he returned on Tour after about a year. He felt happy to play tennis again in his own country and reflected on some of his memories at the Australian Open. 

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