At home in Moscow
Kyrgios surprised by Russian fans’ adoration for him
MOSCOW: Nick Kyrgios said he was “surprised” to be cheered by the home crowd as he beat Russian youngster Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Kremlin Cup.
The temperamental Australian, seeded fifth in Moscow, fired 24 aces to win his first-ever meeting with the 20-year-old Rubvlev on Tuesday.
“I love to play indoors and we played a lot with Andrey in juniors. He’s going to have a great career,” Kyrgios said.
“I was surprised that the public cheered me here. It’s nice. Normally when I’m not at home I’m not the most loved person but it was nice to hear some cheering. I felt almost at home here.”
The 23-year-old Kyrgios, who has slumped to 37th in the world rankings after struggling for form and fitness this year, will meet Mirza Basic in the last 16, after the Bosnian saw off Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
Reigning champion Damir Dzumhur saw his title defence come to an abrupt halt with a firstround loss to Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov.
The Bosnian, who won both the St Petersburg and Moscow tournaments last year, slumped to a 6-1 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 loss to the world number 217.
Gerasimov will next face charismatic Frenchman Benoit Paire for a place in the last eight.
Paire, who has not reached a quarter-final since February, beat Mischa Zverev 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-1.
“It was a good match. I wasn’t doing well at the beginning but then I got much better,” Paire said.
In the women’s draw, Johanna Konta of Britain upset seventh-seeded Belgian Elise Mertens in the first round.
Making up a 30-place rankings gap to the 14th-ranked Mertens, Konta took full advantage of Mertens’ wayward serving to win 6-3, 7-5.
Konta next plays Australia’s Daria Gavrilova.
French players Kristina Mladenovic and Alize Cornet and Russian veteran Vera Zvonareva all won their first-round matches.
The 34-year-old Zvonareva, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, saw off fellow Russian qualifier Irina Khromacheva 6-3, 6-3, to set up a meeting with second seed Karolina Pliskova.
Top seed Simona Halep, who secured the year-end world-number-one ranking on Monday, pulled out of the tournament earlier on Tuesday to rest a troublesome back injury.
“While it’s disappointing to withdraw, I know it’s important to put my health first,” she said.
In Stockholm, American Tennys Sandgren upset fifth-seeded Lucas Pouille of France 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Stockholm Open.
Sandgren hit 14 aces and won 90 per cent of points on his first serve, breaking once in each set to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 16 minutes, on Tuesday.
No. 8 Fernando Verdasco of Spain and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia also advanced. Verdasco beat Matthew Ebden of Australia 6-4, 6-2, while Gulbis ousted Swedish wild-card entry Mikael Ymer 6-4, 6-3.
The four highest seeds, including No. 1. John Isner, have a bye into the second round.