Nick Kyrgios asks fans to ‘be patient’ after shock return defeat
Nick Kyrgios has asked ‘fans’ to ‘be patient’ after losing his first professional match in eight months to Yibing Wu, who had not played on grass since 2017.
Kyrgios lost to Wu, 5-7 3-6, in his first professional match since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery to clean up his lateral meniscus and remove a paralabral cyst.
Before the match, Kyrgios had spoken about his recovery, “It’s taken me about five months to get back to even playing, moving and [ready to play] against these players.”
However, after his straight sets defeat, the Aussie told his fans to ‘be patient’ on Twitter, “Be patient with me my fans please…. It’s a process to get back to where I was. I know it’s hard for you to see me perform like today, but I need more time and hopefully can get back to where I was.”
Be patient with me my fans please…. It’s a process to get back to where I was. I know it’s hard for you to see me perform like today, but I need more time and hopefully can get back to where I was.
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 13, 2023
The last time Kyrgios had played on grass was in the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic, compared to Wu who had not played a match on the surface since reaching the quarter-final of the junior event six years ago.
The No.64 spoke of how ‘happy’ he was to have played the Wimbledon runner-up, “The last time I played on grass was juniors back in 2017, so six years.”
“I was really happy to play Nick in the first round. He’s one of the best players on grass and he served well. He aced me [so many] times. The key for me was to stay cool, stay patient in the game and find a way. I’m happy [with that result].”
The Chinese No.2 will now play Marton Fucsovics in the second round, as Kyrgios heads to the ATP 500 event in Halle to continue his return back from injury.
Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon
As Kyrgios gears up for a return to Wimbledon, we at Tennishead have looked back at the 28-year-old’s most successful major that included a win over Rafael Nadal as a 19-year-old.
Kyrgios win-loss record at SW19: 20-8 (71%)
2014 – Lost in the quarter-final to Milos Raonic (8), 7-6(4) 2-6 4-6 6(4)-7
2015 – Lost in the fourth round to Richard Gasquet (21), 5-7 1-6 7-6(7) 6(6)-7
2016 – Lost in the fourth round to Andy Murray (2), 5-7 1-6 4-6
2017 – Lost in the first round to Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 3-6 4-6 (retired)
2018 – Lost in the third round to Kei Nishikori (24), 1-6 6(3)-7 4-6
2019 – Lost in the second round to Rafael Nadal (3), 3-6 6-3 6(5)-7 6(3)-7
2021 – Lost in the third round to Felix Auger-Aliassime (16), 6-2 1-6 (retired)
2022 – Lost in the final to Novak Djokovic (1), 6-4 3-6 4-6 6(3)-7
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