Yawning Kyrgios rises just in time
NICK Kyrgios has atoned for the worst performance of his career to storm into the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing.
Kyrgios recovered from a loose start to see off German servevolleyer Mischa Zverev 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 yesterday in their secondround clash. It was against Zverev last year that Kyrgios infamously tanked at the Shanghai Masters, drawing condemnation from the tennis world and an eight-week ban from the ATP Tour.
The suspension was reduced to three weeks after Kyrgios agreed to counselling.
Tennis Channel commentators again wondered “how dialled in” Kyrgios was in the return bout 12 months on as he yawned his way through the opening set. He received a code violation for smashing his racquet in disgust after gifting the German a one-set advantage.
But, looking disinterested, Kyrgios should not have been surprised to be behind early.
Seemingly in second gear, he barely even bothered to sit down at one changeover, rushing to the other end of the court instead to casually hit balls to himself against the back board. But the tennis enigma emerged from his slumber to record a win. FRENCH Open champion Jelena Ostapenko has ended Australian Samantha Stosur’s China Open campaign with a straight-sets second-round win in Beijing. Ostapenko dropped serve four times but broke Stosur on seven occasions to win 6-3, 7-5.