Nick Kyrgios barely broke a sweat on his way to a 6-3 6-2 win against Marcos Giron in the opening round of the Washington Open, finishing the job in an even 60 minutes.
The talented Australian, who won the doubles title at last week's Atlanta Open with compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, showed off his imposing serve against Giron. He won the ace count 12-to-four, while converting 82 per cent (28-of-34) of his successful first serves into points.
Earlier in the day, Daniel Evans won an all-English showdown against Kyle Edmund 6-1 6-2, but fellow Englishman Jack Draper was not so lucky against Russia's Andrey Rublev, going down 6-4 6-2.
Winner of the singles title at the Atlanta Open, Jenson Brooksby could not keep his strong form going as he lost 6-4 6-3 to Yoshihito Nishioka. Mackenzie McDonald lost to Brooksby in Atlanta, and he was also bounced in the first round by Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori 1-6 6-4 6-4.
America's Chris Eubanks won a tough three-setter against France's Benjamin Bonzi 3-6 6-3 7-5, and Sebastian Korda passed the test of in-form Ilya Ivashka 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
Veteran Jack Sock got the better of Belgium's David Goffin 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, and the Netherlands' Botic van de Zandschulp fought off frisky Croatian Borna Gojo 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 to narrowly avoid an upset from a player ranked 170 spots lower.
Meanwhile, at the Los Cabos open in Mexico, Kokkinakis continued his march back up the rankings with a 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 win against Fernando Verdasco.
Kokkinakis will play American Steve Johnson in the second round after he collected a straight sets 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 win against Argentina's Gonzalo Villanueva.
Romania's Radu Albot defeated Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 to book his place in the second round against Australian Jason Kubler, who won his 10th match from his past 12 fixtures to beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-1.
The only Mexican in the draw, Alex Hernandez, made the most his wildcard to win his first tour-level match, defeating Nicolas Barrientos 3-6 6-4 6-4 to become the first Mexican player to win at Los Cabos.
Facundo Bagnis was the only of the three Argentines to make it through, with a 6-3 6-1 win over Ernesto Escobado, Brandon Nakashima defeated Kaichi Uchida 7-6 (7-1) 6-2, and Jordan Thompson rounded out the day's action with a comfortable 6-3 6-0 triumph over Yannick Hanfmann.
World number one Swiatek sees off Xiyu in Madrid opener
World number one Iga Swiatek overcame Wang Xiyu with the minimum of fuss on Thursday to progress to the third round of the Madrid Open.
Swiatek has yet to win the title in Madrid, which is the only clay-court European event at which the Pole has not triumphed, but she got off to a flying start with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Xiyu.
"I love this place. I got to know the city a little better last year," Swiatek said. "So this time I feel more comfortable around."
Next up for the 22-year-old is a third-round tie against 27th seed Sorana Cirstea on Saturday.
Data Debrief
Swiatek has registered 150 match wins on the WTA Tour since the start of 2022. Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff are the next best with 108 wins each.
She also became the first player born this century to claim 50 combined match wins in Madrid, Rome and Roland-Garros, since the inaugural women's singles event at the Madrid Open in 2009.
Dominant Gauff double bagels Rus at Madrid Open
Coco Gauff made a flying start to her Madrid Open campaign on Thursday, recording the first double bagel main-draw win of her career as she cruised past Arantxa Rus to reach the round of 32.
Gauff needed just 51 minutes to see off 33-year-old Rus as she booked a meeting with Ukraine's Dayana Yamstremska for Saturday.
The US Open champion lost just 18 points throughout the match – eight in the opener and 10 in the second set – as she put any doubts over her recent form to bed in emphatic fashion.
Gauff's power proved too much for Rus in the opener, the third seed winning 88 per cent of points behind her first serve and converting three of four break points to go a set up in just 23 minutes.
Rus brought up four break points midway through the second set, but when she failed to convert them, Gauff punished her in ruthless fashion by reeling off another three games then finishing things with a terrific forehand winner.
Speaking after her win, the American said: "I played really well today. It was just one of those days for me… 6-0 6-0, I've never done that before, I'll probably never do it again."
Data Debrief: Gauff matches Azarenka, Halep feat
Gauff is just the third player to register a 6-0 6-0 win in the women's singles draw at the Madrid Open, following in the footsteps of two former world number ones in Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep.
The American, who only turned 20 last month, is also the youngest player to double bagel an opponent in any main-draw match on the WTA Tour since Iga Swiatek did so against Karolina Pliskova in the 2021 Italian Open final in Rome.
Nadal cruises past teen Blanch to tee up De Minaur rematch in Madrid
Darwin Blanch presented little challenge for Rafael Nadal, who dropped just one game in a convincing 6-1 6-0 triumph at the Madrid Open.
Nadal is feeling his way back to fitness, but 16-year-old qualifier Blanch offered little resistance to the 22-time major champion on Thursday.
Making his farewell appearance at the Madrid Open, where he has won five titles, Nadal needed just 64 minutes to progress to round two.
"I think today I played against an opponent with a great future in front [of him], but today, still making mistakes," said Nadal.
"I just tried to be there, be solid all the time without taking a lot of risks. It worked well. I'm happy to be through and I wish him all the very best for the future."
Nadal's reward is a rematch with Alex de Minaur, who he lost to last week in Barcelona.
Data Debrief
This game saw the largest age gap (21 years, 117 days) between two opponents in the history of ATP Masters 1000 events.
Nadal has now registered 57 wins at the Madrid Open, which is 20 clear of any other player.
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