Stuttgart Open: Struggling Nick Kyrgios suffers early exit to Wu Yibing on long-awaited return from injury

Nick Kyrgios’ first appearance of the 2023 season ended with a straight-sets defeat to Wu Yibing at the Stuttgart Open as the Australian struggled physically on his long-awaited return from injury.

World No. 62 Wu, competing on grass for the first time in six years, won 7-5 6-3 in the opening round to set up a clash with Denis Shapovalov or Marton Fucsovics.

“The last time I played on grass was juniors back in 2017, so six years,” Wu said.

“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.”

Kyrgios, who was runner-up at Wimbledon last year, is working his way back to full fitness after undergoing surgery on his left lateral meniscus in January.

The 28-year-old’s outing in Stuttgart was his first of the season and the physical discomfort showed as he told his box that he couldn’t walk without pain.

It was the Australian’s first singles match since October 2022, while his last match of any kind was with Thanasi Kokkinakis in the doubles at the ATP Finals last November.

“It’s taken me about five months to get back to even playing, moving and [ready to play] against these players,” the world No. 25 said ahead of his return.

Earlier, Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Zhizhen Zhang in straight sets and Gregoire Barrere overcame Oscar Otte in two.

Chrostopher O’Connell also earned a two-set victory against Daniel Altmaier, while Aslan Karatsev needed a decider to overcome Corentin Moutet and earn second-round meeting with No. 2 seed Taylor Fritz.

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