Kyrgios hoping to rebound in Miami
Forced out of Indian Wells with an ongoing elbow injury, Nick Kyrgios is the 17th seed this fortnight at the Miami Open, where the past two years he's reached the semifinals.
Miami, FL, USA, 20 March 2018 | tennis.com.au
Nick Kyrgios is the 17th seed this week at the Miami Open as he tries to get his injury-ravaged season back on track.
Kyrgios is one of two Aussies in the main draw of the ATP Masters event at Key Biscayne; the second is Matt Ebden, who opens against Frenchman Gilles Simon.
The winner of the Ebden-Simon match progresses to a second-round meeting with No.19 seed Hyeon Chung, a quarterfinalist last week in Indian Wells.
Three more Aussies – Alex De Minaur, Thanasi Kokkinakis and John Millman – are each one win away from joining Kyrgios and Ebden in the main draw after winning their first-round qualifying matches on Monday.
Akira Santillan, as well as Olivia Rogowska and Arina Rodionova in the women’s qualifying draw, fell in first-round matches.
> ATP Miami Open: qualifying draw
Kyrgios was forced to withdraw from Indian Wells with an ongoing elbow injury, which flared during Australia’s Davis Cup tie against Germany in early February.
His two singles rubbers in Brisbane – a win over Jan-Lennard Struff before a loss to Alexander Zverev – were his most recent competitive appearances.
Kyrgios has been awarded a first-round bye in Miami and begins his campaign against the winner of the match between Dusan Lajovic and Horacio Zeballos.
> WTA Miami Open: Barty, Gavrilova land in tough section
He is seeded to meet Fabio Fognini (No.15) in the third round and fourth seed Zverev in the last 16.
Kyrgios landed in the same half of the draw as world No.1 and top seed Roger Federer, against whom the Aussie played one of the matches of the 2017 season in an electrifying Miami Open semifinal.
Kyrgios also reached the semifinal stage in 2016.