A high quality serving match saw Kyrgios just too strong in all departments, serving 16 aces and hitting 36 winners, many simply breathtaking, with just 12 unforced errors. He faced just one break point, while piling on pressure whenever Cilic was at the line. This was especially so at the start of the match with the first two Croatian service games. where a multitude of break points were created by the smart returning and damaging groundstrokes of the Australian. To Cilic's credit he saved all of them to hold his opening serve, and appeared headed that way again in the third (Kyrgios had levelled with a love game in a matter of seconds! but the ninth break point was decisive and with its conversion by Nick the set was basically over.
Another break of serve at 2-4 gave the Aussie the opportunity to serve with insurance for the set and he had no difficulty sealing it. Throughout he showed a maturity and sporting approach far different from some of his 2015 lowlights. Always free to congratulate Cilic on a great shot, this was refreshing to experience.
The debut victory wasn't just some minor tournament with none of the big names present.
This required Nick to dismiss the 2, 3 and 4 seeds to claim the trophy. Each of those was either a current or previous top ten player, and no one should be foolish to deny the likelihood of Kyrgios ending up in that elite company sooner rather than later.
This week will move him from 41 back to the low 30s. Watch out USA in the upcoming Davis Cup tie. Australia is ready to fire. Yes Tomic will need to lift himself from a curious lapse in form but hard to see Kyrgios dropping a singles rubber at Kooyong given his appetite at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment