WATCH: Nick Kyrgios not quite back with a bang in Stuttgart

Nick Kyrgios’ return to tennis following his extended injury layoff ended in defeat after he was beaten in straight sets by Wu Yibing at the Stuttgart Open.

The Australian was competing in his first singles tournament since the Japan Open in October last year as he struggled with a knee injury. He was forced to miss the Australian Open as he underwent surgery on his troublesome knee on the eve of the season-opening Grand Slam.

He was initially expected to play at the French Open, but the picked up a foot injury and his return date was pushed back.

However, his long-awaited comeback finally took place on Tuesday, but he kicked off his 2023 campaign with defeat in the first round.

Kyrgios has previously reached the Stuttgart semi-final stages twice and he entered this year’s competition as eighth seed.

However, after appearing to be struggling physically throughout the match and at one point he was overheard telling his team that he was unable to “walk without pain”.

World No 60 Wu certainly enjoyed his outing against the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up as he came away with a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

“The last time I played on grass was juniors back in 2017, so six years,” Wu told the ATP website after the match.

“I was really happy to play Nick in the first round. He’s one of the best players on grass and he served well.

“He aced me [so many] times. The key for me was to stay cool, stay patient in the game and find a way. I’m happy [with that result].”

He added: “It was pretty special because it was very tense, and he was holding his service games pretty easily.

“I was suffering [on serve] sometimes because he has a better serve than me, but I was patient in the match. I will keep going and work on my serve, and hopefully I can be a better server.”

A win means Wu will face qualifier Marton Fucsovics in the second round after the Hungarian came from behind to beat Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Jan-Lennard Struff got off to a winning start with a 6-1 6-4 win against Zhizhen Zhang to set up a meeting against fifth seed Tommy Paul, who beat Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6-4.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is the top seed and the Greek will kick off his campaign against Richard Gasquet in the second round on Wednesday while second seed Taylor Fritz will face Aslan Karatsev.

READ MORE: Thanasi Kokkinakis hopeful of Nick Kyrgios reunion at Wimbledon