Kicker in the teeth for Kyrgios upon return from injury

After missing the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Nick Kyrgios returned to the ATP Tour and suffered a surprise loss to Nicolas Kicker.

Nick Kyrgios made a short-lived return to ATP Tour action as he lost out 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to Nicolas Kicker at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The enigmatic Australian, now being coached by Sebastien Grosjean, was forced to pull out of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia last week due to a hip complaint.

That withdrawal sparked fears that he could be a doubt for the French Open, which gets under way on Sunday, but those concerns proved without merit as the fourth seed took his place in the second round in Lyon on Tuesday.

And Kyrgios' return began positively, a trio of breaks handing him the opening set before things began to unravel.

He lost serve at 5-4 down in the second as Kicker pulled level, and the Argentinian reeled off four successive games in the decider to secure victory and deal Kyrgios' Roland Garros preparations a significant blow.

Kicker's win sets up a quarterfinal with Nikoloz Basilashvili, who ousted Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4.

In first-round action, sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro saw off Quentin Halys 7-5 6-4, while there were also wins for Carlos Berlocq, Karen Khachanov and Kyle Edmund, who came from a set down to defeat Thiago Monteiro 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.