Nick Kyrgios has crashed from the Miami Open after a 7-6 (7/3) and 6-0 defeat against Karen Khachanov in the second round.
The Australian was playing his second game in three days after his encouraging first -round victory over Mackenzie McDonald.
His victory over McDonald was his first win at a tour since 2022 after spending much of recent years outside injury.
Against Khachanov, Kyrgios offered a sad performance in the second set in which he gathered only seven points.
But there was much to applaud about the way he competed against Khachanov in the first set, carrying the 22nd Russian seed to a tiebreaker.
But after losing the opportunity to go 3-1 in the tiebreaker, the Kyrgios game collapsed.
He irritated himself and with his team on the court, offering a career comment as the second set progressed.
Smató a ball on the court to obtain a warning of the president’s referee at one stage, before the second set concluded after only 21 minutes.
It was a screen that offered a tempting vision of the brilliance that Kyrgios can still produce against a Khachanov quality player.
The conditioning of Kyrgios after their injury setbacks is not yet clear about being good enough to shake the best players, since Khachanov went to a crash with Grigor Dimitrov in the last 32.
Another Australian, Tristan Schoolkate, also lost in the second round, after having been defeated by Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4.
AAPA
