Nick Kyrgios’ first competitive outing in 11 months ended in the second round of the Stuttgart Open on Wednesday, the Australian beaten 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) by Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro on the grass of the Weissenhof. The world No. 652, playing on a protected ranking, won 71 per cent of points behind his first serve and struck 14 aces, but a single break in each set and a tightening forehand in the tie-break tilted a match that had threatened, for stretches, to become a statement performance.
Shimabukuro, ranked 184 and into his first ATP main-draw quarter-final, will play sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday. For Kyrgios, the loss closes a comeback that began in Brisbane in January 2025, was aborted within an hour of his opening match there, and has since been measured in withdrawals — from the Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami and the entire clay swing — rather than results.
A serve that worked, a body that mostly held
The headline number was the radar gun. Kyrgios sent down a tournament-leading 142mph delivery in the seventh game of the first set and averaged 128mph on his first serve, numbers consistent with his pre-injury peak. He held to love four times across the match and was broken only twice, both times from deuce. On a surface that has always flattered his game — he reached the Wimbledon final in 2022 on grass not dissimilar to Stuttgart’s — the weapon that defined him appeared, at least mechanically, intact.
What was not intact was the wrist. Kyrgios required treatment after the eighth game of the second set, the trainer working on the same right wrist that underwent surgery in September 2023 and which has been the public reason for nine of his 12 withdrawals since. He played the tie-break visibly shortening his backhand return and conceded the decisive mini-break with a forehand into the tape at 4-4. The match lasted one hour and 37 minutes.
“I served well, I moved okay, the wrist is the wrist,” Kyrgios said in his on-court interview, declining to elaborate when pressed. “I’m 31 years old. I’ve had three surgeries in 18 months. I’m not going to pretend any of this is easy.”
Shimabukuro’s breakthrough, and the qualifier story
The man on the other side of the net deserves the byline as much as Kyrgios. Shimabukuro, 26, had won one tour-level match in his career before this week and came through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set. The Tokyo-born right-hander, who trains at the IMG Academy in Florida, took out 14th seed Alexander Bublik in round one and now becomes the first Japanese man to reach a grass-court ATP quarter-final since Kei Nishikori at Halle in 2018.
His game is a study in restraint against Kyrgios’ theatre — flat off both wings, comfortable taking the ball early, and notably unflustered when Kyrgios began muttering at his box late in the second set. Shimabukuro saved all five break points he faced, including three in a 12-minute hold for 4-3 in the second.
- Aces: Kyrgios 14, Shimabukuro 6
- First-serve points won: Kyrgios 71%, Shimabukuro 78%
- Break points saved: Shimabukuro 5/5, Kyrgios 2/4
- Unforced errors: Kyrgios 28, Shimabukuro 14
- Match duration: 1hr 37min
What it means for Wimbledon
Kyrgios is entered into Wimbledon, which begins on 29 June, using the same protected ranking that secured his place in Stuttgart. The All England Club confirmed last week that he had accepted his place in the singles main draw. On the evidence of Wednesday, the serve is a Wimbledon-quality weapon; the question is whether the wrist will hold over best-of-five sets across a fortnight.
His record at SW19 — finalist in 2022, fourth round in 2014 and 2017 — remains the strongest of any active Australian, and the bookmakers shortened him from 80-1 to 50-1 in the immediate aftermath of the Shimabukuro defeat, reading the performance as encouraging despite the result. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia’s Davis Cup captain, described the showing as “a real positive” in a brief statement to Tennis Australia.
Kyrgios, asked whether he would play a Wimbledon tune-up at Mallorca or ‘s-Hertogenbosch next week, gave the only answer available to him: “I’ll see how the wrist is tomorrow. Then the day after. That’s how it works now.”
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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