Marcos fell to Nick Kyrgios 7-6(1), 6-4 in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday, but it was far from a straightforward victory for the young Australian.
Strong on serve throughout the one-hour and 17-minute battle, Marcos claimed an impressive 91 percent (30 of 33) of points on his first serve and fired four aces. There were little signs of rust in just his second ATP World Tour match since returning from a foot injury.
He did not face a break point until the ninth game of the second set, when Kyrgios got the upper hand and closed out the win a few minutes later. It was their second head-to-head encounter, having clashed at another Masters 1000 event - in Miami - last year.
