A POWERFUL serving display from young Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard saw him grind past fellow serving machine Nick Kyrgios in a three-tiebreaker match. Mpetshi Perricard eventually got the job done 7-6 6-7 7-6 in two hours and 27 minutes over Kyrgios who was playing just his second ATP Tour-level singles match in two and a half years.

Mpetshi Perricard rose up the world rankings to 31st, with former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios making his long-awaited return through the Australian summer. Just a day after playing doubles with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, the Australian was forced to endure a barrage of 36 aces off Mpetshi Perricard’s racquet in the tight loss.

Now 29 years-old, Kyrgios is eyeing off a return to the ATP Tour, having won seven career titles and more than $12 million USD in prizemoney. Though starting from the very bottom of the world rankings, the Aussie received a protected ranking slot in Brisbane.

Kyrgios served 15 aces without a double fault himself, while winning 83 and 69 per cent of his first and second serve points respectively. However neither he nor the 21-year-old Frenchman (89 and 63 per cent) could break the other, with each player having two chances, but the serving prowess of the opponent able to save the day.

“Not too bad,” Mpetshi Perricard said of his 36-strong ace count. “I knew it was going to be a serve match, so Nick did a good job … I hope I will do a nice recovery and be back in two days.”

Though suffering defeat, Kyrgios said he was pleased with how he was able to perform against an up-and-coming talent on the ATP Tour.

“It was a great match, considering I hadn’t played in 18 months and to put myself in a winning position was exciting,” Kyrgios said. “It was just good to be back out there and to say that, you know, I can still play a level against someone like that who is coming off the best year of their career and only getting better and confident.

“I’m coming back and I asked the question, and he just played a couple big points better than I did. Yeah, I felt relatively pretty good physically. My legs, my body felt really good. I felt fit and I’m in great shape. Obviously felt some discomfort with the wrist, but he does serve and hit the ball a lot bigger than probably some of the people that I have practiced with in the last year.”

In was a forgettable day for the Aussie males in Brisbane with the other three local hopes all bowing out. Rinky Hijikata was no match for top seed Djokovic 6-3 6-3, while Adam Walton and Alexei Popyrin exited in the first round to Frances Tiafoe and Matteo Arnaldi respectively.

In other results, French veteran Gael Monfils and American powerful server Reilly Opelka both reached the Round of 16, as did talented young Czech Jakub Mensik and Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

The first four Round of 16 matches take place today with Aussie Aleksandar Vukic taking on defending champion and second seed Grigor Dimitrov up first on Pat Rafter Arena, while tonight eighth seeded Jordan Thompson meets American young star Alex Michelsen for a spot in the quarter finals.