ATP Miami: Nick Kyrgios performs spectacle! Auger-Aliassime cracks top-50
The 27th seed and a two-time Miami semi-finalist Nick Kyrgios has improved his score to 12-0 over the players ranked outside the top-10 in Florida, ousting Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-1 in 57 minutes. What seems to be a comfortable win for the Aussie came after all kind of tantrums, extraordinary shots and the complete entertaining package that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats for almost an hour. In his show on the court, Nick managed to hit an underhand serve ace, to serve another one of those serves on set point, play a no-look forehand, salute crowd before a smash, argue with the fan who was sent out and get a delay game warning, and all that, we repeat, in 57 minutes!
The Aussie fired 12 aces and defended six out of seven break points to mount the pressure on Lajovic who couldn't do much in this one-person show, losing half of the points behind the initial shot and suffering five breaks that put him miles away from the positive result. Kyrgios closed the match with 25 winners and 12 unforced errors, leaving Lajovic on a 14-12 ratio and dominating in the quickest rallies up to four strokes (Dusan failed to return 30% of Nick's serves) to secure the win and race into the last 16. Lajovic squandered three break points at the start of the match and wasted a game point at 1-2 to get broken after a backhand mistake.
A forehand down the line winner pushed the Aussie 5-1 up before Lajovic pulled one break back, reducing the deficit but falling 6-3 behind after four winners from Nick in game nine. The better-ranked player had a clear advantage on the court in set number two, delivering three straight breaks to wrap up the things up in the seventh game, setting the fourth-round clash against Borna Coric. Just like in some previous matches, the young Croat struggled to find his 'A game' but did enough to beat Jeremy Chardy 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and 36 minutes, beating the Frenchman for the third time in five encounters.
They had a similar number of winners and unforced errors, with the crucial element in Borna's win being the superb performance in the shortest exchanges up to four strokes that brought him the triumph in sets two and three. The opening set lasted for more than an hour and it saw Jeremy coming from a 4-2 down to reach the tie break that he won 7-2 after a terrible shot from Coric at the net. The Croat started to play better in set number two, opening a 3-0 advantage and fending off four break points in the rest of the set to grab it 6-2 with a break at 15 in game eight.
The momentum was on the side of the youngster now and he saved the best for the last, rattling off 12 of the final 14 points at 3-3 in the decider to advance, closing the action with an ace in game eight for the eighth win of the season so far. An 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime has become the first player born in 2000 to reach the fourth round at Masters 1000 event and crack the top-50 after a thrilling 7-6, 6-4 win over Dominic Thiem slayer Hubert Hurkacz in an hour and 42 minutes. Felix won five points more overall in the battle of the youngsters, repelling all three break points he faced and scoring one break in set number two that pushed him over the finish line.
A qualifier had 34 winners and 31 unforced errors, overcoming Hurkacz's 16-17 ratio and taking a slim lead in the shortest and mid-range exchanges to forge the triumph in straight sets. Auger-Aliassime saved those three break points in games four and six of the opening set, powerless on the return before the tie break that was a chance for him to steal this part of the match. From 5-4 down, Felix won three straight points to take the breaker 7-5 after a backhand down the line return winner, building the momentum and dropping just six points on serve in set number two. The pressure was on Hubert who couldn't deal with it, repelling two break points at 3-4 before Auger-Aliassime found the way to get the break in game ten following a loose forehand from the Pole, celebrating an impressive win and achieving more milestones for himself and 2000 generation.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2FuSo3v
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