Acapulco: Rafael Nadal tumbled out of the Mexican Open on Wednesday night, squandering three match points in a 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 loss to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios.
Playing his first event since losing to Novak Djokovic in late January in the Australian Open final, the top-seeded Nadal dropped the first two match points on Kyrgios’ serve and the last one on his own first serve.
Nadal won in Acapulco in 2005 and 2013. On Tuesday night, the second-ranked Spanish star opened play with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Mischa Zverev.
Kyrgios set up a quarter-final match against Stan Wawrinka, a 7-6, 6-4 winner over seventh-seeded Steve Johnson in the hardcourt event at The Princess Mundo Imperial.
The top seed also fell in the women’s event, with Brazilian qualifier Beatriz Haddad Maia beating Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-3 for her first victory in seven career matches against players ranked in the top 10.
The fourth-ranked Stephens, the 2017 US Open, was making her first appearance in the event since winning the 2016 title.
“It was just a tough match, obviously she played well,” Stephens said. “A tough day. But I’m not too sad about it. I’m just going to go back and work some more, practice some more and get ready for Indian Wells.”
