Nick Kyrgios reacts to his first win in 895 days: ‘I was pretty close to crying’
Nick Kyrgios defeated Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Masters 1000 event in Miami, and called the victory ‘special.’
The Australian was struggling to win points early on, with McDonald racing to a 3-0 lead in the first set.
Kyrgios managed to get back on track and served out the victory to-love in the third set.
The former Wimbledon finalist hadn’t won a match since his third-round match at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo back in 2022 – 895 days ago.
“It’s been a long journey, even to just get to the start line of matches and be scared to even be able to finish them,” Kyrgios stated.
“To come off and get a win and feel like I belong again was special. I never thought I would play tennis again to be brutally honest with you.
“I was having conversations with my camp and my team and I said: ‘I don’t know how long I can keep doing this for.'”
He also went on the state: “Yeah, not going to lie, I was pretty close to crying on court, just think about the last two years, and it’s been pretty brutal, to be honest.
“I was in a cast for 12 weeks for my wrist, and the surgeons would say that I would never play again.”
The former world No 13 has been plagued by injury since the 2022 season, which was the best of his career – reaching the final of Wimbledon, as well as winning Washington and claiming multiple top 10 victories.
Kyrgios was subsequently forced to withdraw from the 2023 Australian Open, undergoing knee surgery which also forced him to miss multiple clay court events. Then, in September of that year, he underwent wrist surgery for a torn ligament – eventually keeping him out for the entire 2024 season.
His wrist troubles were evident in Indian Wells earlier in 2025, forced to retire at 7-6(7), 3-0 down to Botic van de Zandschulp in his opening match – with Kyrgios breaking out in tears on the court.
After that mid-match retirement, he stated: “This process has probably been one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my life.
“In reality, it’s not too bad, but for my tennis career, it’s by far the biggest.
Yeah, just the amount of work that goes in when I go back home or when I’m not playing, it’s not fun.”
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Kyrgios is next scheduled to play against veteran Karen Khachanov, but is not certain that he will take to the court in Miami.
“It’s never pain-free. Playing an hour and a half against a top player, I don’t know how it’s going to pull up tomorrow,” said the former Wimbledon finalist.
“I’ll do everything I can. You know how it goes, recovery now, nice dinner, get to the physio, get some sleep and see how it pulls up.
This [victory] puts some petrol in the tank but I need to be realistic and see how my wrist feels tomorrow because it is a grind out here.”
