Nick Kyrgios faced a setback in his singles return after 18 months, losing to Andrey Rublev at the World Tennis League. The Australian marked his comeback with a victory, securing a win in the mixed doubles alongside Jasmine Paolini against Denis Shapovalov and Caroline Garcia, finishing 7-5.
Kyrgios then continued on the court for a crucial singles match for the Team Kites against Team Falcons. Despite his efforts, he couldn't clinch the victory, with Rublev securing a 6-4 win and leading the Falcons to a 24-21 win over the Kites.
In the match, Kyrgios showed some signs of rust, especially evident in his serve, managing only two aces—uncharacteristic for him. This match was his first singles appearance since a defeat to Wu Yibing at the Stuttgart Open in June 2023.
Rublev, on the other hand, delivered a strong performance, serving four aces and winning 73% of his first-serve points. The turning point came early in the match at a deuce game, where Rublev capitalized on a no-ad scoring format to go up 2-1. No break points occurred in the subsequent games until Kyrgios had two chances in the final game, both of which he failed to convert, sealing his fate in the match.
Despite the singles loss, Kyrgios's solid performance in the mixed doubles signals a promising return to competitive tennis.