Nick Kyrgios fell short of securing back-to-back singles victories for the first time in almost four years, losing to Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro in the Stuttgart Open round of 16 on Thursday.
The Australian, 31, was beaten 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 after taking the opening set and producing another encouraging performance as he continues his return from long-term knee and wrist injuries.
Kyrgios had impressed earlier in the week with a straight-sets victory over world No. 36 Corentin Moutet, his first ATP singles win since 2022. Despite the defeat to Shimabukuro, he again showed signs of progress after playing just seven singles matches over the past four years.
The former Wimbledon finalist’s serve remained a major weapon throughout the contest, and he delighted spectators with one of his trademark underarm serves to force an error from Shimabukuro and clinch the first set.
Kyrgios was broken only once during the match, but the Japanese player lifted his level after the opening stanza, edging the second-set tiebreak before securing the decisive break in the ninth game of the final set.
The match also featured a brief exchange between Kyrgios and the chair umpire early in the deciding set after the Australian claimed he should have been informed that new balls would be introduced in the following game.
After the umpire responded, “I didn’t know you wanted to know,” Kyrgios questioned whether it remained common courtesy on tour to notify players in advance.
“I don’t know if you’re new or anything, but [for] as long as I’ve been on tour, the game before, it’s been like ‘new balls next game’. Because that’s courtesy. You know how you hold us accountable, I think we should hold you accountable too, yeah?” Kyrgios said.
The exchange was far less heated than many of Kyrgios’ past on-court disputes, prompting a Tennis Channel commentator to joke: “He’s just trying to fire himself up out there.”
Shimabukuro’s victory sends him through to his first ATP Tour quarter-final and is expected to lift the 28-year-old into the world’s top 100 for the first time.
“I’m really happy. Nick is a great player, and a big name in tennis,” Shimabukuro said. “It means a lot to win today.”
Kyrgios will now turn his attention to the Halle Open in Germany next week as he continues his push for a Wimbledon wildcard and looks to build momentum ahead of the grass-court Grand Slam.
Source: News.com.au
