Australian teenage qualifier Nick Kyrgios has lost 7-5 6-3 6-2 to Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer in a gallant US Open debut in New York.

Kyrgios, the world’s top-ranked junior and the youngest player in the men’s singles draw, kept pace with fleet-footed Ferrer in the first set, retrieving a break of serve and exacting one of his own.

But by the end of the match 18-year-old Kyrgios paid the price for 44 unforced errors and bowed out in straight sets.