Five months after his last singles match, Nick Kyrgios is back on grass and back to winning. The Australian beat No. 8 seed Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-4 in the ATP Stuttgart 2026 first round. It took just 1 hour and 9 minutes on the Stuttgart grass for Kyrgios to check off a clean, controlled win. After a long ordeal with his knee and wrist, this was exactly the start he wanted on his favorite surface.

It is also a timely reminder of the level he showed as the 2022 Wimbledon finalist. Things went south later that same year, and the climb back has been slow. On grass, though, his serve and instinctive shot-making still travel well. Kyrgios entered as a wild card and drew the in-form world No. 34. He handled the matchup with poise and precision to move into the Round of 16.

Kyrgios back on song in Stuttgart

Kyrgios opened the match on serve and never looked flustered. From the very first games, his delivery set the rhythm and kept Moutet reacting. The scoreboard pressure built steadily as he kept landing first serves. When Kyrgios is picking his spots on grass, quick holds usually follow. Stuttgart’s Center Court felt familiar ground, and it showed.

Context matters, and the numbers add weight to the story. Kyrgios came in ranked No. 282, short on recent singles reps but long on grass know-how. Moutet arrived with the No. 34 ranking and the higher seed. The wild card label did not stop Kyrgios from dictating. One break per set proved enough in a match with no tiebreaks and few openings.

Serve numbers set the tone

The serve did most of the heavy lifting. Kyrgios fired 8 aces to Moutet’s 5 and kept a tidy 1 double fault to 2. The headline figure was first-serve accuracy: 84 percent for Kyrgios against 56 percent for Moutet. On those first balls, Kyrgios won 83 percent of points, while Moutet held at 82 percent. High volume plus high efficiency is a tough combination to crack on grass.

The rest of the service profile reinforced the pattern. Kyrgios faced zero break points across 10 service games, so he did not need to save any. Moutet saw three break points on his own serve and saved one. Kyrgios converted two of those chances and that was the match right there. Overall service points won favored Kyrgios 43 to 33, and total points landed at 59 to 47. Even on return, Kyrgios edged it 17 to 14 in receiver points, a small but telling margin.

How the two sets played out

First set, 6-3, was all about setting the baseline. Kyrgios dropped 5 aces in the opener and made 84 percent of first serves. He won 78 percent of those first-serve points and even with a modest 40 percent on second serve, he was rarely under pressure. Moutet put in 61 percent of first serves and was perfect on his second-serve makes, but he faced one break point and could not save it. Kyrgios also put together a six-point run and a three-game run to close out the set.

Second set, 6-4, followed a similar script with a few extra flashes. Kyrgios still hit 84 percent of first serves and won a strong 90 percent behind them. He needed only four second serves in the set, winning one of those points, which shows how little he had to rely on Plan B. Moutet’s first-serve percentage dipped to 53 percent and he added two doubles. He faced two break points, saved one, and the other decided the set. Kyrgios won 12 return points to 5 in the second, which kept him in control of the scoreboard.

What it means for Stuttgart and the grass swing

Grass remains Kyrgios’s happy place, and this was a textbook grass-court win. Short rallies, big serving, and smart first-strike tennis kept his workload manageable. Against a top-40 opponent, the wild card delivered a clean, straight-sets result. The 12-7 games split underlines how efficiently he managed his service games. No tiebreaks were required, and that usually means the favorite pattern was working.

For fans tracking the grass season, this is a promising sign. Kyrgios moves into the Round of 16 at this ATP 250 stop in Stuttgart with momentum and confidence. His 2022 Wimbledon run is still a relevant data point, especially with this serving form. You can follow his next match, point-by-point stats and draw updates on Sofascore. The match page also features the Sofascore Rating and detailed numbers that tell the story behind the scoreline.