Nick Kyrgios overcame the embarrassment of forgetting his tennis shoes to battle through to the second round of the Cincinnati Open, although his hip continues to be a concern leading into the US Open.
The Australian 15th seed held up the start of play against American qualifier Denis Kudla as he searched his kit bag on court before admitting to officials he hadn't packed his trainers.
"Wait, what?" Kyrgios could be heard saying on camera as he went through the various compartments of his tennis bag before swearing when he realised what he had done.
After walking around the side of the court in his dark grey socks to find someone who could retrieve his shoes, the embarrassed world No.18 then told his bemused opponent: "I left my tennis shoes in the locker room, sorry man."
After a tournament aide came to the rescue by retrieving his required footwear, which meant he didn't have to play in the basketball shoes he walked on to court in, last year's tournament runner-up wrapped up a 6-7 (7-2) 7-5 7-6 (9-7) victory in one hour and 58 minutes.
Proving you don't even need footwear, Nick Kyrgios still won his match. Source: AAP
Kyrgios produced some dazzling shots and fired 39 aces, including a huge second-serve ace when down match point.
"[In my mind] I don't feel as if I can miss that serve again, so I just go for it," Kyrgios said.
Despite victory there were concerns for Kygrios, who showed signs of being troubled by a hip injury.
"This year has been tough," Kyrgios said.
"I started the year very well. Then, obviously, I hurt my elbow. Then I had an ongoing hip injury.
"We have been definitely thinking about the options with my hip...
"You know, right now I'm just managing it."
Next for Kyrgios at the ATP Masters 1000 event is world No.21 Croatian Borna Coric, a 6-2 6-3 voctory over Daniil Medvedev.
Roger Federer cruised to a 6-4 6-4 win over Peter Gojowczyk in his first match since losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals while rising Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten 7-5 6-3 by Belgian 11th seed David Goffin.
World No.2 Federer, the top player in the men's draw after Rafa Nadal's withdrawal, looked fresh as he overwhelmed German Gojowczyk - saving five break points.
"It's important to always try to play your game, especially on faster surfaces, and not be too reactive," he said.
The Swiss will face Leonardo Mayer in the round of 16 after the Argentine beat 16th-seeded Lucas Pouille 7-6 (9-7) 6-4.
Others to progress to the second round on Tuesday were Milos Raonic, Hyeon Chung, Robin Haase, Karen Khachanov, Mischa Zverev, Marton Fucsovics and Marius Copil.
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