Nick Kyrgios crashes out in first match since October
By Lee Vowell
The world of tennis needs a guy like Nick Kyrgios, even if Nick Kyrgios doesn’t need tennis. At least, Kyrgios has never truly acted like he needed the sport. He could have been great if only he’d put forth a lot more effort, people might think. But Kyrgios is ultimately cursed.
And to be honest, tennis fans are cursed when it comes to Kyrgios. He has enough charisma to lift the game beyond just the common fan, but he also has the arrogance to turn off those who don’t follow the greatness that is the sport of tennis. Kyrgios is nearly an oxymoron by himself.
On Tuesday at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart, Kyrgios was playing his first match since October when he played in the Japan Open. Since that October match, Kyrgios has had somewhat serious knee surgery and been held up in a car theft in which he suffered a toe injury. Kyrgios, always seemingly close to being hurt, is now 28 years old with a body that seems like 35. And few are truly capable of playing great tennis past 35 unless your name is Novak Djokovic, of course.
Nick Kyrgios loses in first match back since October
Kyrgios lost 7-5 6-3 to Wibing Yu at the BOSS Open. Not that Wibing Yu is a bad player; He won an ATP tournament in Dallas this past February. But Kyrgios has always had the raw talent to be a top-five player if he was so driven.
On Tuesday, Kyrgios served well (15 aces) but did not move around anywhere nearly as well as he has shown in the past. Possibly, this is just him trying to overcome a knee injury. It should be noted, however, that while Kyrgios was a runner-up at Wimbledon last year, he seems nowhere fit enough to be as capable heading into the 2023 edition of the greatest grass tournament in the world.
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Still, tennis always does well when it has great players but also great bad boys. John McEnroe, of course, was the height of that as he was a bit of both. But while Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are near sainthood, and Djokovic isn’t a bad guy himself, it would be nice to have a healthy Kyrgios stirring up drama every once in a while with great play and a bad attitude.