Nick Kyrgios bounces back from Wimbledon 'hurt' to cruise through Washington first round

Nick Kyrgios said he was "proud" of his performance in defeating Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the ATP and WTA Washington Open on Tuesday.

Playing in his first match since reaching the Wimbledon final last month - where he was defeated in four sets by defending champion Novak Djokovic - Kyrgios fired 12 aces and saved the lone break point he faced to oust Giron in 59 minutes for a triumphant return at the US Open hardcourt tune-up.

After a 3-3 start, Kyrgios won nine of the last 11 games for the victory despite memories of a poor effort in a first-round exit last year during "a dark time in my life."

"I just really wanted to force myself to have high energy and pull out a performance," Kyrgios said. "My confidence was a bit low coming out just because just being on that court again. I got disgraced last year first round, and it was tough to stomach. I'm proud of my performance today. It wasn't easy."

World No 63 Kyrgios, whose most recent title came at Washington in 2019, booked a second-round match against US 14th seed Tommy Paul.

Kyrgios revealed he has struggled to move on after his Wimbledon final loss but said reaching his maiden major final has given him the belief he can do so again.

"That match hurts," Kyrgios said. "To have that opportunity and come up short wasn't easy for me to stomach.

"It was hard. I feel like a Grand Slam final doesn't come around so often for us normal players. That was like the golden opportunity.

"I'm doing all the right things to put myself in that position again. I don't think we thought it was possible to contend for Grand Slams, but now it's a genuine thing."

A hearing in Australia on common assault charges against Kyrgios from a January 2021 incident had originally