Nick Kyrgios started his clay campaign with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 win over Marcos Baghdatis in his opening match at the Madriid Mutua Open. Kyrgios, who made his return on the ATP Tour after the death of his grandfather, hit 14 aces and 10 backhand winners. He didn’t face any break points and converted his only break in the second set to seal a straight-set win in one hour and 17 minutes.
Kyrgios and Baghdatis went on serve with no breaks in the first set when the Australian player fired 10 aces. The set wss decided by the tie-break where Kyrgios raced out to a 6-0 lead with winners and unforced errors from Baghdatis. After winning the tie-break by 7.1 Kyrgios called for the trainer to receive treatment on a problem with his left hip flexor.
Both players held on serve en route to 4-4 before Kyrgios converted on his first break point in the ninth game as Baghdatis netted his backhand. Kyrgios made a serve and volley on his first match point to close out the match to love after 1 hour and 17 minutes. Kyrgios hit 30 winners to 27 unforced errors.
He will face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Ryan Harrison and Bernard Tomic. It would be the first head-to-head match between two Aussies Tomic and Kyrgios on the ATP Tour.
In his past two appearances in Madrid Kyrgios beat Roger Federer in 2015 and Stan Wawrinka in 2016.
