STUTTGART, June 14, 2018
Nick Kyrgios celebrated a successful return to the ATP World Tour, winning his opening match at the MercedesCup 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 against in-form German Maximilian Marterer on Thursday afternoon.
The No. 4 seed from Australia is playing the only fifth singles tournament of his 2018 season, which has been marred by a right elbow injury. In his first singles match since 13 April in Houston, Kyrgios fired 20 aces and broke his opponent’s serve two times to prevail in one hour and 27 minutes.
Never. Gets. Old.@NickKyrgios 🎉#MercedesCup pic.twitter.com/GZAEGhLxEM
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 14. Juni 2018
“It was a terrible match, the only thing that kept me in it was my serving. Nothing went very well for me, the good thing is my elbow didn’t bother me,” Kyrgios said.
“Basically, I didn’t feel great out there, today was pretty average. And the last three months have been brutal.”
Kyrgios also gave a lot of credit to his opponent, saying that Marterer played “great” in Paris and that the German will enjoy “a massive career”.
López wins battle of the veterans
The 23-year-old Aussie will next take on Feliciano López, who defeated French veteran Gilles Simon 7-6, 6-4. The 36-year-old from Spain, who finished runner-up in Stuttgart last year, saved three of the four break points he faced, converting two of his own to secure victory in one hour and 35 minutes.
“I think the way I played was good overall,” López said. “This is very important for me, to have weeks on grass. It’s a very unique surface. You play only two, three weeks a year… it’s so important to get matches, to get hours on the grass and [you get more] when you win.”
Federer to face Pella
Guido Pella will face Roger Federer in Friday’s quarterfinals after seeing off Prajnesh Gunneswaran 7-6, 6-4. The Indian qualifier had upset Denis Shapovalov in the first round, but could not maintain that form as he fell to a straight sets defeat to the Argentine in one hour and 29 minutes.
Milos Raonic cruised past Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-2, 6-4. The No. 7 seed from Canada only needed 51 minutes to set up a quarterfinal clash with Tomas Berdych, who beat Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-6, 6-4.
