Tennis, ATP – Miami Masters 2025: Nick Kyrgios beats McDonald

Nick Kyrgios edged out American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Miami Masters at the Hard Rock Stadium on Wednesday.

The victory was Kyrgios’ first on the ATP Tour since the second round of the Tokyo Open in October 2022, 896 days ago. Since then, the Australian has had a challenging layoff, battling wrist, leg and abdominal injuries. He made his return to the Tour earlier this year, losing first round at the Brisbane International, Australian Open and Indian Wells Open.

It seemed as though things were heading towards an early exit in Miami as well, with the 29-year-old spraying 15 unforced errors in the opening set alone to fall behind quickly.

However, he found his range in the second and third sets, dramatically reducing his error rate and hitting his spots on the first serve. Free points on serve ended up being the difference, plus the Aussie’s improved pressure on return.

“I feel like I’ve been returning better every game, being back on court with these world-class players,” Kyrgios said.

“He’s such a good player, he’s so tricky. It caught me off guard, I walked on the court and I wasn’t used to that ball speed. It’s been a long road, even to get to the start line. To come off and get a win, to feel like I belong again, it’s pretty special.

“I thought I’d never play tennis again to be brutally honest with you. It was going that way. I’ve had conversations with my team, you know, guys who are leaving their families behind to try and get me on the court, and I was like, ‘I don’t know how long I can keep doing this for’.

“But obviously this puts a bit more petrol in the tank. I need to be realistic, I’ll see how my wrist pulls up tomorrow because it is a grind out here.”