TORONTO — Nick Kyrgios turned in a patchy performance to exit the Toronto Masters 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-3 Monday at the hands of Wimbledon junior champion Denis Shapovalov.
The 17-year-old Canadian set up a match point with his 12th ace, then calmly closed out the upset over the 19th-ranked Australian.
In his first match since losing to eventual champion Andy Murray in the Wimbledon fourth round, Kyrgios at times showed little interest in his on-court duties, serving at lightning speed with only a few seconds between points.
During one changeover, he was heard muttering to himself in dissatisfaction.
“Not great, obviously,” said Kyrgios, who was troubled by a sore knee but still unhappy with his lethargic showing. “I don’t know. I just didn’t play great.”
The Australian 11th seed somehow struck an ace as his racquet flew from his hand on one serve, but his 13 aces were out-numbered by 18 double faults.
“I’m not going to tell you what I did or didn’t do to prepare for this
match. I just played pretty bad, but he played great and he earned it.
“Obviously he was excited playing in front of his home crowd. I know what it feels like to come off one of your biggest junior results and then play in one of your home tournaments.”
Shapovalov, playing in only his second ATP event, will take on Former top 10 contender Grigor Dimitrov, who is trying to claw his way back in what has been a disappointing season.
The Bulgarian reached the second round with a 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win over Yuichi Sugita.
Three other seeds advanced, with No. 9 John Isner coming back to eliminate Dudi Sela 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Australian 12th seed Bernard Tomic beat Alejandro Gonzalez 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) while Jack Sock, the number 16, defeated Denis Kudla 6-2, 6-2.
Dimitrov, ranked 48th, got out of danger against Sugita after trailing a set and a break.
Dimitrov, who lost six straight matches prior to Wimbledon, improved to 21-16 in 2016.
“It was a very tough match, I didn’t play my best tennis but I got through. It was great to hear some Bulgarian voices in the crowd when I got down on myself,” he said.
“The weeks before Wimbledon were difficult for me,” he added. “I was still working hard, trying to perform.
“Patience is the key for me now, that’s what it’s all about.”
Dimitrov said he finally turned the corner in the match while trailing 4-1 in the second-set tiebreaker, standing just a handful of points from a first-round exit.
The Bulgarian won a lob-to-lob exchange with the 107th-ranked Sugita, coming through to eventually level the set and take on new life in the third.
Borna Coric won an all-Croatian clash as he beat Ivan Dodig 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
South African Kevin Anderson ended a losing streak of three consecutive opening matches, downing Serb Viktor Troicki 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Canadian Steven Diez surprised Briton Kyle Edmund 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The wild card entry will play Tomic.
