Hampered by an abdominal injury that nearly forced him out of the tournament, Nick Kyrgios was comfortably defeated by Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley on his return to John Cain Arena for the first time in three years.
After losing a tight first set in a tiebreak, Kyrgios wilted as he lost his serve in the second set before dropping the third in another tiebreak to hand Fearnley the victory 7-6(3) 6-3 7-6(2).
Click here to watch live tennis on Stan Sport.
The Brit was solid throughout the match, doing well to keep the capacity crowd muted for most of the match until Kyrgios mounted a brief fightback in the third set.
Kyrgios entered the court to a wild reception from a crowd who had lined up in the sun since the start of the day to watch him play and started strongly, comfortably reaching 200km/h on both first and second serves. But in the third game, he began grimacing and although he saved every break point he faced in the set, he never looked comfortable as he clutched at his abdomen periodically.
He took the set to a tiebreak, where Fearnley raised his level to secure an early double mini-break before consolidating with the first opportunity he had on his own serve.
From the beginning of the second set, it was one-way traffic, with Fearnley securing an early break and Kyrgios struggling to replicate the speeds he was reaching on serve at the start of the match. Kyrgios fought back from a break down at the end of the third set, as Fearnley began to crumble under pressure. Yet, much to the dismay of the crowd, the Brit managed to close out the third set in a tiebreak.
In post-match press, Kyrgios dropped a retirement bombshell, revealing it was probably his last match in singles at the Australian Open.
"I didn't want to just throw in the towel and walk off or retire. I was hurting physically. I respect my opponent. The fans waited hours to come see me play. I realistically can't see myself playing a singles match here again," he said.
Kyrgios, however, did mention that he would be travelling on the road for the next year before deciding definitively whether to call it quits.
"It's hard. When you're competing for the biggest tournaments in the world and you're struggling to win sets physically, it's pretty tough. But I've still got a long year ahead. I'm trusting the process that I can still be able to do some cool things this year at some stage."
Kyrgios also confirmed that he would play doubles with Thanasi Kokkinakis later in the week.
"We owe it to each other to go out there in front of the crowd and have a bit of fun," he said.
Fearnley shared that the key to him winning the match, especially after Kyrgios fought back in the third set, was maintaining his mental composure.
"I think a lot of it was mental, especially in that third set. You could kind of see that the tide [was] turning a little bit," he explained. "I had to really fight to stay composed and not let my emotions get the better of me, not let the crowd kind of get to my head."
Fearnley will now play Frenchman Arthur Cazaux while Kyrgios and Kokkinakis are set for an all-Aussie doubles clash with James Duckworth and Aleksandar Vukic.
Brighton Sports is the one-stop shop for all things tennis and squash in Melbourne's Bayside region. Leading brands supported by expert knowledge and a business that puts back into the tennis community. Visit: www.brightonsports.com.au
Comments