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.

Ad “The last time I played on grass was juniors back in 2017, so six years,” Wu said. Tennis10 burning questions for the grass-court season9 HOURS AGO “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.

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