Kyrgios down Troicki despite offcourt distractions

NICK Kyrgios was niggled by offcourt distractions as he overcame Serbian journeyman Viktor Troicki in straight sets to reach the third round at the Australian Open yesterday.

The explosive Australian 17th seed was largely in control, winning 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), but had to cope with a loud chanting fan and a helicopter hovering persistently over Hisense Arena.

After missing a match point and a couple of loose forehands, Kyrgios was broken by Troicki, who forced the final set into a tiebreak. But the Australian was devastating, rifling through it to hold five match points before winning 7/2.

With Kyrgios about to serve early in the match, a young man in the crowd stood up and chanted loudly before he was ushered out of the stadium by security staff.

He then had to deal with the helicopter which stayed above the unenclosed stadium for several minutes before moving on.

In among all the commotion Kyrgios was in a different class to the 65th-ranked Troicki, who has reached the round of 16 five times at Grand Slams.

He won his first home ATP Tour title at the lead-up Brisbane International and is looking to go further than a quarter-final appearance in Melbourne three years ago.

Meanwhile, Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic became the oldest man to reach the third round of the event for 40 years when he edged Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in five sets in searing heat.

Old warrior Karlovic, 39 next month, served down 53 aces as he came through 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 7-5, 4-6, 12-10 in four hours, 33 minutes — the longest match in the tournament so far.

He will face Italian Andreas Seppi in round three when he will be the oldest player to contest that round since Ken Rosewall, aged 44, in 1978 when the draw was only 64.

It is the second year running the giant from Zagreb has been involved in marathon match here, having banged down a Melbourne record 75 aces last year on his way to a first-round win against Argentina's Horacio Zeballos, sneaking the fifth set 2220. Agencies