Nick Kyrgios misses second ATP Cup match vs. Auger-Aliassime due to..

Australia is still a team to beat in Group F of the ATP Cup in Brisbane, defeating Canada 3-0 to make another big step towards a place in the quarter-final. After beating Alexander Zverev from a set and a break down, Alex de Minaur repeated the same versus Denis Shapovalov, securing the victory for the home nation after John Millman delivered the opening point for the yellow squad. The Brisbane native stepped in instead of Nick Kyrgios who has been dealing with a light back injury in the last couple of days, defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime for the perfect start of the season in front of the home crowd. Nick decided to skip the tie and take more rest ahead of a more easier clash against the second-best Greek player on Tuesday, although he doesn't have to play that one as well, especially if Millman repeats his form from today.

In his first match of the year on Friday, Kyrgios took down Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-6 in swift an hour and 12 minutes to push Australia into an early lead against Germany. Firing 20 aces, the Aussie dropped only 12 points behind the initial shot and faced no break chances, mounting the pressure on Struff who fought well to stay in contention. The German got broken once in the first set and fell in the second set tie break to push Nick over the finish line despite a solid effort. Settling into a nice rhythm, they needed less than ten minutes to wrap up the opening four games before Kyrgios converted the only break chance of the encounter to move 3-2 in front following a loose forehand Struff that would cost him dearly.

Barely losing a point in five service games, Nick closed the set with an ace at 5-4 after just 26 minutes, looking sharp on the court and determined to repeat that in set number two. There, they both served well to reach a tie break in no time at all, with the crucial moment occurring at 4-3 when Kyrgios landed a perfect lob winner, moving further in front and sealing the deal with two aces at 5-4 to wrap up the triumph and make the winning start for Australia. Nick had back problems in the past as well and this time he hopes it is nothing too serious, just a couple of weeks before the start of the Australian Open.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ZVOP04