MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Nick Kyrgios won a match for the first time in nearly 2 1/2 years on Wednesday 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.
“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. “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.
