Kyrgios beats Murray at Hopman Cup

Andy Murray suffered his first defeat of 2016 against Nick Kyrgios as Great Britain lost to the Australia Green team at the Hopman Cup.

But Kyrgios had all the answers in their showdown at Perth Arena, with the world No. 30 revealing afterwards he received plenty of tips from a mystery advisor.

“I think the crowd is going to be fully behind him whoever he plays”, Kyrgios said.

Murray retrieved an early break at the start of the second set, which went to a tie-break after some top-quality tennis from both men.

“Hopefully that can continue to come, and she can keep giving me tips”.

But if there really is someone behind the scenes giving him vital tips, they’re working wonders.

Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend, women’s player Donna Vekic, was an innocent victim of Nick Kyrgios’ 2015 sledging controversy.

Murray was broken from 40-0 up in the first game of the second set but immediately broke back.

But he salvaged some pride with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win today to give his team, Australia Green, a 1-0 lead against opponents Britain.

Britain’s hopes of reaching the final now depend on a big win against Germany on Friday, coupled with Australia Green losing heavily to France.

Murray appeared troubled by a right thigh injury during his singles loss.

In other first-round matches Sunday, Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky, at No. 5, became the first seeded player eliminated when she was beaten by Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a 2013 finalist in Brisbane, 6-2, 6-1. His performance against the crowd was just as notable as his play against Murray: after copping some cheek from a spectator for a seemingly fumbled shot, his response was decidedly restrained.

Kyrgios’ powerful serve was a major weapon against Murray.

Hewitt is famously ending his decorated 20-year career at Melbourne Park this month and Kyrgios says it would be a “very, very bad thing” if he was to draw his veteran compatriot.