ATP: Miami adventure for German-Spaniard Nicola Kuhn over

Two days after his first ATP main field victory, 18-year-old Nicola Kuhn retired in the second round of the Masters 1000 tournament in Miami. The wild card holder lost 2:6, 4:6 in 67 minutes to Fabio Fognini from Italy, who was seeded in position 15.

Kuhn defeated Darian King from Barbados 7:6 (7:4), 6:4 on Thursday and was successful on the professional tour for the first time. The blonde had played his first ATP main field match last year in Shenzhen, but lost in round one to the US player Donald Young.

“It’s a dream to share the locker room with all the great players. The wildcard meant a lot to me,” Kuhn said before the game against Fognini. The Miami Open is known for giving wildcards to promising young players, Kuhn qualified as early as 2017.

The 18-year-old, who was born in Innsbruck, played for Germany until 2015 before he joined the association and has been active for Spain ever since. In the world rankings, the 1.85 metre tall Kuhn is ranked 211. He is the youngest Spaniard since Rafael Nadal in 2004 (then 17) to win a main round match at an ATP tournament.

Kuhn has a German father and a Russian mother. At the age of twelve, he moved to the “Equelite Academy” of former professional Juan Carlos Ferrero.