Houston, USA, 6 April 2022 | Leigh Rogers

Houston, USA

Nick Kyrgios has made a winning return to clay at an ATP 250 tournament in Houston.

Contesting his first professional match on clay since May 2019, Kyrgios fought back to defeat American Mackenzie McDonald in three sets.

Kyrgios fired 18 aces in a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory against the world No.52.

It is the 26-year-old’s eighth win from his past 10 matches, all of which have been against higher-ranked opponents.

Coming through on the clay 👌 @NickKyrgios wins his first clay-court match since 2019 with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 comeback over McDonald.#USClay pic.twitter.com/iqL3RiJCpD

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 5, 2022

The victory propels world No.94 Kyrgios into a second-round showdown with seventh-seeded American Tommy Paul, the world No.34 and Roland Garros 2015 boys’ singles champion.

In other first-round action today, a dominant serving performance helped Jordan Thompson score a 6-3 6-2 victory against Canada’s Steven Diez.

World No.83 Thompson conceded only 10 points on his service games in the 94-minute encounter.

While Uruguay’s Pablos Cuevas ended the winning run of Australian qualifier Max Purcell, scoring a 7-6(7) 6-3 victory.

In men’s doubles competition, Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith eliminated the fourth seeds. The Aussie duo posted a 7-5 2-6 [10-8] victory against Mexico’s Hans Hach Verdugo and American Austin Krajicek.

Aussies in action – Houston

TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
Jordan Thompson (AUS) d [LL] Steven Diez (CAN) 6-3 6-2
[WC] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) d Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 4-6 6-3 6-4
Pablo Cuevas (URU) d [Q] Max Purcell (AUS) 7-6(7) 6-3

Men’s doubles, first round
Luke Saville (AUS)/John-Patrick Smith (AUS) d [4] Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX)/Austin Krajicek (USA) 7-5 2-6 [10-8]

COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [5] Cristian Garin (CHI)
[WC] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v [7] Tommy Paul (USA)

Men’s doubles, first round
[1] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Max Purcell (AUS) v Steve Johnson (USA)/Sam Querrey (USA)
[3] Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/Jack Sock (USA) v Andre Goransson (SWE)/Nathaniel Lammons (USA)

Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
Luke Saville (AUS)/John-Patrick Smith (AUS) v TBC

Charleston, USA

Ajla Tomljanovic, Australia’s new top-ranked woman, was closing in on a first-round victory at a WTA 500 tournament in Charleston.

However, rain forced the match to be rescheduled for tomorrow with Tomljanovic leading American qualifier Sophie Chang 7-5 4-4.

In women’s doubles action, Anastasia Rodionova and Ukrainian partner Lyudmyla Kichenok lost in three sets to the top-seeded combination of American Caroline Dolehide and China’s Zhang Shuai.

Aussies in action – Charleston

TODAY’S RESULTS
Women’s doubles, first round
[1] Caroline Dolehide (USA)/Zhang Shuai (CHN) d Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) 6-2 4-6 [10-6]

COMING UP
Women’s singles, first round
[14] Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v [Q] Sophie Chang (USA) 7-5 4-4 to finish

Bogota, Colombia

Australia’s Astra Sharma has lost her opening-round singles match at a WTA 250 tournament in Bogota.

The 2019 finalist was eliminated by Dutch qualifier Suzan Lamens, who scored a 6-4 1-6 6-4 victory in an almost two-hour battle.

Sharma had better luck in doubles, teaming with Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi to record a 7-5 7-5 first-round win against Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson and Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Aussies in action – Bogota

TODAY’S RESULTS
Women’s singles, first round
[Q] Suzan Lamens (NED) d [7] Astra Sharma (AUS) 6-4 1-6 6-4

Women’s doubles, first round
Astra Sharma (AUS)/Aldila Sutjiadi (IDN) d Rebecca Peterson (SWE)/Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) 7-5 7-5

COMING UP
Women’s doubles, quarterfinals
Astra Sharma (AUS)/Aldila Sutjiadi (IDN) v TBC

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