adminAndy Murray lost to Nick Kyrgios for the first time as he suffered a straight-set defeat in the Hopman Cup.
Australia’s Kyrgios won 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in the team event, where Britain’s Murray is partnering Heather Watson.
Watson then beat Daria Gavrilova 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 7-5 in a thrilling match to set up a deciding mixed doubles rubber.
Both teams won their opening ties in the round-robin event in Perth, which is a warm-up for the Australian Open in Melbourne, starting on January 18.
World number two Murray, 28, won his first four encounters against the 20-year-old, including victories at the Australian, French and US Opens last year.
Kyrgios, ranked 30th, broke Murray in the third game of the match and although the Scot saved two set points at 4-5, a backhand winner secured the set for the Australian at the third opportunity.
Murray was broken from 40-0 up in the first game of the second set but immediately broke back.
The two-time Grand Slam winner had a set point at 5-4 but Kyrgios saved it with a fierce forehand and went on to close out the match in a tie-break.
Kyrgios and Gavrilova make up Australia Green – one of two squads representing the host country in the eight-team event.
British women’s number two Watson, 23, demonstrated her fighting qualities to come back from a set down to defeat 21-year-old Gavrilova and keep the tie alive.
The Briton, ranked 55, could not convert two set points at 5-4 in the first set and the world number 36 raced clear in the tie-break, winning the first five points before clinching it 7-2.
Watson won four games in a row to level the match and appeared to be in control when she went 2-0 up in the decider.
However, Gavrilova hit back and served for the match at 5-3 with the crucial moment coming at deuce when a forehand from the Australian was called in.
Watson’s challenge showed the ball landing wide, she converted the resulting break point and then won the final three games to seal victory in two hours 46 minutes.— BBC.
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter