Nick Kyrgios was back in the winners’ circle on Tuesday.
Playing for the first time since January (Brisbane), Kyrgios kicked off his BOSS Open campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Corentin Moutet in the opening round. The 31-year-old Australian struck eight aces compared to just one double-fault while advancing in one hour and eight minites.
“It’s quite emotional, to be honest,” Kyrgios commented. “I’ve had a lot of surgeries just to come back here and I felt the love from the get-go,” Kyrgios said. “I’m so thrilled to be back and playing some high-level tennis, as well.”
Prior to arriving in Stuttgart, Kyrgios had played just seven matches since the start of 2023. He currently has no ATP ranking.
The former Wimbledon runner-up is joined in the last 16 by Sho Shimabukuro, James Duckworth, Marcos Giron, Frances Tiafoe, Rinky Hijikata, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Gauthier Onclin, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Yannick Hanfmann. Tiafoe battled past Daniel Altmaier in three sets on Tuesday.
“(The) first match on grass court is always tricky,” Tiafoe assured. “(It was) my first match since my tough match at Roland Garros (a five-set loss to Matteo Arnaldi in the fourth round). So it was nice to get a win.”