Nick Kyrgios lived to fight another day Wednesday, overcoming a slip behind the No. 1 Court baseline in the fifth set to book his place in the second round at The Championships.
Restarting at 3-3 in the deciding set, following two hours and 43 minutes of play on Tuesday night, the Australian completed a 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 9-7 victory over French 21st seed Ugo Humbert at Wimbledon.
“It wasn’t hard to get off the couch in Canberra, as Wimbledon is one of my favourite events,” said Kyrgios. “It was a long day yesterday with the rain and I ate so much food, thinking the match may be cancelled. I got home late last night. It’s very easy to get up for a match with a full crowd.”
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The 26-year-old came through an injury scare at 6-6 in the deciding set, which lasted 67 minutes. Having hit a slice backhand on the first point, Kyrgios moved to the centre of the court before slipping behind the baseline.
After a few grimaces, Kyrgios regrouped and broke Humbert to go up 8-7, before rallying from 15/40 when he served for his fifth victory of 2021.
"You kind of always expect the grass to bring out those moments where you get wrong-footed," said Kyrgios. "No matter if it was something bad, I was always going to get up and play. With one leg, I was going to finish the match."
In February, Kyrgios saved two match points against left-handed Humbert in the Australian Open second round en route to a five-set victory.
The 2014 Wimbledon quarter-finalist will next face Italian Gianluca Mager. Humbert, winner of his third ATP Tour title at the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle two weeks ago, is now 15-14 on the season.
In other first-round matches, French 13th seed Gael Monfils ended a five-match losing streak on grass courts with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell. He will play Spain’s Pedro Martinez in the second round.
Bulgarian 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov won 82 per cent of his first-service points (60/73) in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Fernando Verdasco of Spain. The former World No. 3 now challenges a Kazakhstani: Alexander Bublik or Mikhail Kukushkin.
Marin Cilic, the 32nd seed and 2017 Wimbledon finalist, worked his way past Salvatore Caruso of Italy 7-6(5), 7-6(1), 6-1 in two hours and 40 minutes. The Croatian, who won his first ATP Tour title for three years at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart (d. Auger-Aliassime) earlier this month, awaits the winner of Argentine Marco Trungelliti or fellow qualifier Benjamin Bonzi of France.
Meanwhile, Italian 23rd seed Lorenzo Sonego, last week’s Viking International Eastbourne finalist (l. to De Minaur), beat Pedro Sousa of Portugal 6-2, 7-5, 6-0 in one hour and 48 minutes. He now plays Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan.
Restarting at 3-3 in the deciding set, following two hours and 43 minutes of play on Tuesday night, the Australian completed a 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 9-7 victory over French 21st seed Ugo Humbert at Wimbledon.
“It wasn’t hard to get off the couch in Canberra, as Wimbledon is one of my favourite events,” said Kyrgios. “It was a long day yesterday with the rain and I ate so much food, thinking the match may be cancelled. I got home late last night. It’s very easy to get up for a match with a full crowd.”
View Schedule | Listen To Radio Wimbledon | List Of Broadcasters (PDF)
The 26-year-old came through an injury scare at 6-6 in the deciding set, which lasted 67 minutes. Having hit a slice backhand on the first point, Kyrgios moved to the centre of the court before slipping behind the baseline.
After a few grimaces, Kyrgios regrouped and broke Humbert to go up 8-7, before rallying from 15/40 when he served for his fifth victory of 2021.
"You kind of always expect the grass to bring out those moments where you get wrong-footed," said Kyrgios. "No matter if it was something bad, I was always going to get up and play. With one leg, I was going to finish the match."
In February, Kyrgios saved two match points against left-handed Humbert in the Australian Open second round en route to a five-set victory.
The 2014 Wimbledon quarter-finalist will next face Italian Gianluca Mager. Humbert, winner of his third ATP Tour title at the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle two weeks ago, is now 15-14 on the season.
In other first-round matches, French 13th seed Gael Monfils ended a five-match losing streak on grass courts with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell. He will play Spain’s Pedro Martinez in the second round.
Bulgarian 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov won 82 per cent of his first-service points (60/73) in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Fernando Verdasco of Spain. The former World No. 3 now challenges a Kazakhstani: Alexander Bublik or Mikhail Kukushkin.
Marin Cilic, the 32nd seed and 2017 Wimbledon finalist, worked his way past Salvatore Caruso of Italy 7-6(5), 7-6(1), 6-1 in two hours and 40 minutes. The Croatian, who won his first ATP Tour title for three years at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart (d. Auger-Aliassime) earlier this month, awaits the winner of Argentine Marco Trungelliti or fellow qualifier Benjamin Bonzi of France.
Meanwhile, Italian 23rd seed Lorenzo Sonego, last week’s Viking International Eastbourne finalist (l. to De Minaur), beat Pedro Sousa of Portugal 6-2, 7-5, 6-0 in one hour and 48 minutes. He now plays Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan.