Australian Nick Kyrgios sealed a comfortable victory over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the first round of the Miami Open on Wednesday, while former world number one Naomi Osaka defeated Astra Sharma.
"It was a hell of a performance," Kyrgios said. "Getting on late, it wasn’t easy. So I'm really proud of myself with the way I responded. I felt good, I competed well today against a tough opponent."The Australian said he would be a "complete underdog" in his second-round match against Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
"This is like my home tournament," smiled Osaka during her on-court interview, prompting a round of cheers. A four-times Grand Slam champion, Japan's Osaka has seen her ranking fall to 77th coming into the tournament after she took a break from tennis following last year's U.S. Open to prioritise her mental health.
Osaka said the decision to finally seek out professional help came after her sister expressed concern for her.