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Wildcard Kyrgios fired down 12 aces and did not face a single
break point in his 7-6(3) 6-3 win.
"It was a hell of a performance," Kyrgios said. "Getting on
late, it wasn’t easy. So I'm really proud of myself with the way
I responded. I felt good, I competed well today against a tough
opponent."
The Australian said he would be a "complete underdog" in his
second-round match against Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
"But I feel confident. If I'm serving well and play well from
the back, I can beat anyone," he added.
Earlier, Osaka was cheered on to a 6-3 6-4 win over Australia's
Sharma.
Osaka was in complete command right from the moment she stepped
onto the Hard Rock Stadium court, never allowing Sharma a single
break opportunity while keeping her 96th-ranked opponent under
constant pressure, converting two of 11 break points.
After the match, Osaka soaked up the applause from the sparse
crowd in what was a far different atmosphere from 11 days
earlier in Indian Wells when she fought back tears after being
heckled during a second-round loss to Veronika Kudermetova.
"This is like my home tournament," smiled Osaka during her
on-court interview, prompting a round of cheers.
"Honestly I just didn't want to let anything bother me today no
matter what happened, like the last match I played was not the
greatest memory for me.
"I just wanted to prove I could come back out here and compete
and no matter if I won or lost just know I had the best attitude
that I could."
A four-times Grand Slam champion, Japan's Osaka has seen her
ranking fall to 77th coming into the tournament after she took a
break from tennis following last year's U.S. Open to prioritise
her mental health.
Osaka's mental health struggles first manifested themselves at
the 2021 French Open when she withdrew from the Grand Slam after
deciding to boycott post-match media duties, explaining she had
been suffering from depression.
She has taken breaks from the sport on several occasions and
said after her match on Wednesday that she was seeing a
therapist.
Osaka said the decision to finally seek out professional help
came after her sister expressed concern for her.
"I finally started talking to a therapist after Indian Wells,"
said Osaka, after setting up a second-round clash with another
former world number one Angelique Kerber. "It only took like a
year after the French Open.
"I feel like I've been trying a lot of different things because
I tend to internalise things, and I also want to do everything
by myself.
"The mind is such a big thing. If you can get a professional to
help you out .5%, that alone is worth it."
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, additional reporting by
Manasi Pathak; Editing by Toby Davis/Peter Rutherford)
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