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Nick Kyrgios produced some high-octane tennis in the Wimbledon first round to knock out 21st seed Ugo Humbert. Kyrgios and Humbert were level at 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 3-3 when play was halted late on Tuesday due to curfew, but the Aussie came out all guns blazing on Wednesday to wrap up the decider 9-7.
Nick Kyrgios will now face Italy's Gianluca Mager in the second round on Thursday. But the 26-year-old, after having played just his eighth match in the last 17 months, admitted on Wednesday that he was in pain when he woke up in the morning.
"I was in so much pain this morning, physically," Nick Kyrgios said. "It’s been a while since I played. But it's very easy to get up for it, with a big crowd. It was so much fun, honestly."
The Aussie went on to claim that he would go back to his hotel room and play Call of Duty with his girlfriend before returning to the court the next day. Kyrgios also joked that he was using Wimbledon as a "change of scenery" rather than an actual tennis tournament.
"I'm just using this as a change of scenery, really, this Wimbledon," Kyrgios said. "I'm just going to go to the hotel, play some Call of Duty with my girlfriend and chill. Just come out and play again, it’s simple. It’s pretty easy."
Nick Kyrgios took a nasty tumble deep into the fifth set, giving fans flashbacks of Serena Williams and Adrian Mannarino's freak injuries from Tuesday. But the Aussie didn't take long to recover, and got back on his feet soon enough.
When asked what was going through his mind at the time, Nick Kyrgios pointed out that mishaps of this kind are part and parcel of grasscourt tennis. But the Aussie then stressed that retiring due to injury was never an option for him, given that the match was in its closing stages.
"You kind of always expect the grass to bring out those moments where you get wrong-footed," Kyrgios said. "It's happened to me before. I actually slipped at Queen’s once."
"But, yeah, look, I’m not sure, I think it was 6-all in the fifth or something, where I was always going to get up and play," he added. "I made it that far. I haven’t been playing many tournaments. I’m here. No matter if it was something bad, I was always going to get up and play. With one leg, I was going to finish the match."
"When I play this game called Sequence, I'm very competitive" - Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios has played a total of four events since March last year. But when asked if he misses competing on tour week in and week out, Kyrgios quipped that he fights hard for everything he dabbles in given his immensely competitive nature.
"I compete every day," Nick Kyrgios said. "I compete when I play checkers. I compete when I play Call of Duty. I compete when I play basketball. I have the competitive sort of -- I get that thrill with anything I do. My friends back home can definitely vouch for that. When I play this game called Sequence, I'm very competitive."
