Nick Kyrgios Suffers First Round Exit at Australian Open 2025
In a major upset, the Australian tennis ace Nick Kyrgios was eliminated in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open at the hands of British qualifier Jacob Fearnley. The match at the John Cain Arena in Melbourne ended 7-6 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (2) in favor of Fearnley.
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Nick Kyrgios, who had been a long time out of competitive tennis by reason of injury, finally returned to the Grand Slam stage after quite some time. Despite all this hype surrounding his return, Fearnley stood in his way to propel himself into the semis.
The first set was pretty tough. Both players really showed off their skills in the tie-breaker, which Fearnley took 7-3. He was struggling with his serve, which is one of his strongest assets, and wasn’t able to convert the important break points. He could not hold on to regaining the rhythm despite the support from the home crowd and lost the set.
Jacob Fearnley, one of the most improved players of the last 12 months, defeats Nick Kyrgios (playing his first Grand Slam match since the US Open 2022 QFs) 7-6(3), 6-3, 7-6(3) to reach the 2nd round at the #AusOpen.
Gets Cazaux next.
Many doubts on what’s next for Kyrgios… pic.twitter.com/UFfOujw3fw
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 13, 2025
In the second set, Fearnley dominated again. He broke the serve of Kyrgios in the beginning, and held onto it to go 6-3. During the third set, Nick Kyrgios had to fight his way through, and it was ultimately the consistency as well as pressure-handling skills of Fearnley that eventually made the difference.
The exit of Nick Kyrgios from the tournament gave more speculation to the fans and critics regarding his prospects in tennis. Though marred by injuries and fitness issues which affected his play, there are many who still believe that he will be able to make a successful comeback on the tennis field if he is allowed proper rest and training for the future tournaments.
However, Fearnley was greatly acclaimed for the superb game against the highest-ranked player, which will go on record to help him gain much success and prestige as his next win brings him through to the second round of the Australian Open.
