Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios
beats McDonald at the Miami Open for his first win in 2 1/2 years
[March 20, 2025]
By HOWARD FENDRICH
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Nick Kyrgios won a match for the first
time in nearly 2 1/2 years on Wednesday at the Miami Open, beating
Mackie McDonald 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 while wearing a thick wrap of beige
tape on his surgically repaired right wrist that he said was numb
after he took five painkillers.
“I’m not going to lie: I was pretty close to crying on court. I just
think about the last two years, and it's been pretty brutal, to be
honest,” said Kyrgios, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon
in 2022. “I was in a cast for 12 weeks. Couldn’t move my wrist. And
the surgeons were saying I’d never play again. So I was listening to
a lot of the outside noise — whether I'd be able to play at this
level and win. Playing’s one thing, but winning matches and
executing is another thing.”
The Australian, who turns 30 next month, hadn't come out on the
right end of an official contest since October 2022, when he
defeated Kamil Majchrzak at a tournament in Tokyo and then withdrew
before what would have been a matchup against Taylor Fritz in the
quarterfinals.
Since then, Kyrgios needed operations for a torn ligament in his
wrist and on his knee, sidelining him for nearly all of 2023 — when
he competed once in singles — and all of the 2024 season.
Kyrgios, one of the named plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit
filed Tuesday by players against groups that run tennis, began this
year with an 0-3 record until Wednesday.
The lack of competition has dropped him from a career high of No. 13
all the way down to No. 892 in the ATP rankings; he was able to
enter the Miami field thanks to a protected ranking. He was a
semifinalist in this hard-court tournament in 2016 and 2017.
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Nick Kyrgios, of Australia, left, shakes hands with Mackenzie
McDonald, right, after winning their match during the Miami Open
tennis tournament, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla.
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
“I used to actually win a fair bit, so this kind of
feels normal, but I don’t think it's really sunk it that I was in a
place where I couldn’t hit a fluffy tennis ball to now beating a
solid player,” said Kyrgios, who delivered 13 aces Wednesday. “It's
pretty surreal.”
McDonald, a Californian who eliminated Rafael Nadal at the 2023
Australian Open, is ranked 101st and went through qualifying to earn
a spot in the main draw of the Miami Open.
Next for Kyrgios is a matchup against No. 22 seed Karen Khachanov, a
two-time Grand Slam semifinalist.
They've played three times previously, including five-setters at the
2020 Australian Open, won by Kyrgios, and at the 2022 U.S. Open, won
by Khachanov.
“We pretty much grew up together through juniors. He’s an insane
workhorse. So professional. Always shows up. Pretty much the
opposite of what I do,” Kyrgios said with a smile. “If I make the
start line, I'll give him what I've got. But I can't say it'll be
what it used to be between us two.”
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