ATP Washington: Nick Kyrgios, Frances Tiafoe stun No. 3 seeds in doubles opener

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Australia's Nick Kyrgios and his American partner Frances Tiafoe made a positive start to their doubles campaign at the Citi Open in Washington. Kyrgios and Tiafoe, who received a wild card for the Washington doubles event, surprised third-seeded Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig 7-5 1-6 11-9.

Kyrgios and Tiafoe claimed the first break of the match in the seventh game but got broken back in the following game. However, Kyrgios and Tiafoe kept their focus as they earned their second break of the match in the 11th game and served out for the opener in the following game.

After losing the first set, Bopanna and Dodig bounced back in style as they broke Kyrgios and Tiafoe twice to force a decider. Kyrgios and Tiafoe went on a four-point run in the match tie-break to take an early 5-1 lead but Bopanna and Dodig worked their way to tie the match tie-break at 9-9.

However, Kyrgios and Tiafoe didn't panic after blowing a notable lead as they won the following two points to seal a three-set win.

Kyrgios out of the Washington singles event

On Tuesday, Kyrgios suffered a 6-4 6-4 loss to Mackenzie McDonald in the Wshington first round.

“I feel like I actually enjoyed my tennis more when it was so up and down,” Kyrgios admitted after the match. “Like you see me today, like I’m losing and I’m barely getting angry. I actually miss the days when I was losing and I was carrying on and I was getting fined and I was throwing my racquets, I was carrying on.

“That just meant that I just cared a lot. Do you know what I mean? Like I actually cared what was happening. Now I lose and I’m actually happy for the other guy. Back then, I couldn’t stand the other guy. Now I’m like… I don’t know, I don’t know.

I always had this theory when people got angry when they’re losing, really angry, that it was a sign that they cared. Do you know what I mean? Like it’s positive. Now, I don’t know. It’s weird, man. It’s really weird”.