Kyrgios loses 2nd round and temper; Murray battles on
PARIS (Reuters) – An angry Nick Kyrgios was knocked out of the French Open on Thursday, going down 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to South African Kevin Anderson in the second round.
The temperamental Australian destroyed two rackets, including one that he smashed six times onto a cooler, and was handed a penalty point.
The 18th seed has never made it past the third round at the Paris Grand Slam.
Anderson next faces Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray’s struggles on clay this season came back to plague him on Thursday as he ground out an unconvincing 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) win against Slovakian big-hitter Martin Klizan.
Following a poor run on the red dirt for the world No. 1, he wavered again before seeing off his 50th-ranked opponent.
Recovering from illness and injury, Murray’s relationship with the clay has turned sour this year, with early losses in Madrid and Rome.
His form has been a far cry from the run he enjoyed just a year ago, when he contested three successive finals on the slow surface and came within one match of triumphing at Roland Garros.
In what – fitness permitting – promises to be one of the ties of the third round, the Scot will play Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, a victor over Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, who was forced to pull out in the third set of their match with a knee injury.
World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka came out on top in his slugfest with Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov, winning 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-5 to set up a third-round showdown with Italian maverick Fabio Fognini.
The 2015 French Open champion, who has yet to drop a set this week, may have won in three but it was tougher than it looked. The unpredictable Dolgopolov, a former top-20 player, gave him a run for his money.
“He pushed me, he pressed me and I had to stay concentrated,” said Wawrinka. “It was a big game and the level was extremely high. I had to keep pushing back,” said the Swiss, who fired 16 aces compared to the Ukrainian’s six.
On the women’s side, ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska lived up to her nickname as the “Professor” when she dug deep into her toolbox of tactics to repel tenacious qualifier Alison Van Uytvanck 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3.
The world No. 10, in her first tournament in five weeks following a foot injury, will now face local favorite Alize Cornet, who ousted 20th seed Barbora Strycova 6-4, 6-1.
In other action, Romanian third seed Simona Halep strolled into the third round with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against unheralded German Tatjana Maria, while second seed Karolina Pliskova survived a see-saw encounter against Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Also, 12th-seeded American Madison Keys fell to Croatia’s Petra Martic 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
On TV: French Open mid-round action (live on Eurosport from noon on Friday and Saturday)