On a sun-drenched afternoon in Miami Gardens, Florida, on March 19, 2025, the tennis world witnessed a triumphant return that felt like a script ripped from a Hollywood comeback story. Nick Kyrgios, the polarizing Australian star known as much for his fiery personality as his blistering serve, stepped onto the hard courts of the Miami Open and did what many doubted he could still do: win. After nearly 900 days—896, to be exact—of battling injuries, surgeries, and whispers of retirement, Kyrgios clawed his way back from a set down to defeat American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was his first ATP Tour victory since October 2022, a drought spanning over two and a half years, and the emotional weight of the moment was palpable.
The match began with a stumble, as Kyrgios, sporting a thick beige wrap on his surgically repaired right wrist, dropped the first set to McDonald, a scrappy player ranked 101st in the world. The early going was rough—Kyrgios lost 12 of the first 13 points, his frustration evident as he glanced toward his box, muttering complaints. For a player who hadn’t tasted victory since toppling Kamil Majchrzak in Tokyo over two years ago, it looked like another chapter in a saga of setbacks. But then, something shifted. The 29-year-old dug deep, his serve rediscovering its venom—he unleashed 13 aces—and his unforced errors dwindled from a staggering 15 in the first set to a manageable 16 across the next two. By the time he sealed the third set, the crowd was roaring, and Kyrgios was on the verge of tears.
“I’m not going to lie: I was pretty close to crying on court,” he confessed afterward, his voice thick with emotion. “I just think about the last two years, and it’s been pretty brutal, to be honest.” Those years were a grueling odyssey of physical and mental trials. A torn ligament in his wrist and a knee operation sidelined him for nearly all of 2023 and the entirety of 2024. Surgeons had warned him he might never play again, and for a time, he believed them. “I was in a cast for 12 weeks. Couldn’t move my wrist,” he recalled. “I thought I’d never play tennis again, to be brutally honest, and it was going that way.” Yet here he was, back in the winner’s circle, proving doubters wrong with a performance that blended resilience with flashes of the flair that once saw him reach the 2022 Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios’s journey to this moment wasn’t just about overcoming physical hurdles. The mental toll was immense—he admitted to battling self-doubt and the “outside noise” questioning whether he could still compete at this level. “Playing’s one thing, but winning matches and executing is another,” he said, reflecting on the gap between merely showing up and succeeding. Entering Miami ranked a lowly 892nd after a career-high of No. 13, he relied on a protected ranking to secure his spot. His 2025 season had started with an 0-3 record, including a tearful retirement mid-match at Indian Wells just weeks earlier due to that nagging wrist. But in Miami, a tournament where he’s historically thrived—reaching the semifinals in 2016 and 2017—something clicked. “Something about Miami brings out my best stuff,” he grinned. “I’m proud of the way I dug it out and competed.”
For McDonald, a Californian who once stunned Rafael Nadal at the 2023 Australian Open, the match was a missed opportunity. Fresh off a strong run in Challenger events, he pushed Kyrgios hard with his speed and tenacity, but couldn’t withstand the Australian’s late surge. Now, Kyrgios turns his sights to a second-round clash with No. 22 seed Karen Khachanov, a towering Russian with a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head, including a five-set thriller at the 2022 US Open. “We pretty much grew up together through juniors,” Kyrgios said with a smirk. “He’s an insane workhorse. So professional. Always shows up. Pretty much the opposite of what I do.” He added, “If I make the start line, I’ll give him what I’ve got,” a nod to the uncertainty still lingering around his wrist, which he said felt numb after taking five painkillers during the McDonald match.
This victory wasn’t just a personal triumph—it rippled through the tennis world, amplified by Kyrgios’s role as a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed against tennis governing bodies just a day prior, aimed at improving player conditions. Yet, on this day, the focus was on his racquet, not the courtroom. “I used to actually win a fair bit, so this kind of feels normal,” he mused, “but I don’t think it’s really sunk in that I was in a place where I couldn’t hit a fluffy tennis ball to now beating a solid player.” As the Miami Open unfolds, all eyes will be on Kyrgios to see if this is a fleeting spark or the start of a blazing resurgence. For now, though, the tennis maverick is back—and the sport feels a little livelier for it.
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