Kyrgios sends Federer crashing in Madrid
MADRID: Australia young gun Nick Kyrgios knocked top seed Roger Federer out of the Madrid Open on Wednesday with a stunning 6- 7 ( 2/7), 7- 6 ( 7/5), 7- 6 (14/12) victory. Kyrgios, who beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year, sent down 22 aces to Federer’s 15 and next faces John Isner of the United States.
“I’ve been playing well recently on the clay, so I knew I had a good chance to go out
I guess that’s why you play the game, to play on these big courts against these big players. He’s the greatest of all time, no doubt.
there and do wel l . I stuck t o my game and served wel l and I got the wi n ,” said Kyrgios who was runner- up on clay at Estoril last weekend.
“I guess that’s why you play the game, to play on these big courts against these big players. He’s the greatest of all time, no doubt.”
Top seed Federer saved five match points in the deciding tiebreaker while having two of his own annulled by the big-hitting Australian youngster, ranked 35th.
“I couldn’t return his first serve, I had a horrible performance on return of serve,” said Federer.
“That made life difficult for me.
“I’m disappointed with how I played on returns, and that cost me the match.”
Meanwhile, second seeded Andy Murray went through, beating Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6- 4, 3- 6, 6- 0 in a second round tie which finished at just after 3am Thursday.
Nadal returned to his claycourt comfort zone, start ing his campaign for a fifth Madrid Open title with a 6- 4, 6- 3 defeat of Steve Johnson.
The victory in 74 minutes lifted Nadal’s clay record over Americans to a perfect 10- 0 while the third seed improved to 12-3 on the surface this season.
The nine- time French Open champion has four Madrid titles and has played in six finals at his showcase home event. He is aiming to extend his streak of winning at least one European ATP clay title leading into Roland Garros to 11 straight years. Nadal goes on to face Italy’s Simone Bolelli for a quarter-final spot.
“I think I played a solid match, I played the way I needed to to win that match. I know after a loss like Barcelona (third round) things are not easy when you’re playing the next match,” said Nadal.
Women’s top seed Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova survived marathon three- setters to reach the quarter-finals. Williams saved three match points and needed two and three- quarter hours to take her undefeated record this season to 23- 0, making the most of a late serving collapse from former number one Victoria Azarenka.
“I could have won, she could have won. I ended up winning and I don’t know how,” said Williams after her 7- 6 ( 7/ 5), 3- 6, 7- 6 ( 7/1) win.
“I feel like it was intense.” — AFP
Nick Kyrgios, world number 35