Nick Kyrgios has powered into the third round of the Citi Open in Washington, after demolishing American 14th seed Tommy Paul 6-3 6-4.
Kyrgios needed just 85 minutes to advance, continuing the good form he showed in progressing to last month’s Wimbledon final.
He won 37 of 44 points for the match when he made his first serve, and was just as impressive when returning Paul’s serve, breaking three times during the match.
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There was a brief hold-up when Kyrgios brought up his first match point, with Paul serving at 4-5 in the second set.
The chair umpire indicated there was a power loss, with a clearly bemused Kyrgios questioning exactly what was impacted, given the stadium lights were still working.
Paul was able to save that match point, after which Kyrgios was given a code violation for ball abuse.
“What about, code violation, bad idea by you to slow the game down?” Kyrgios retorts.
A double fault from Paul, his second of that game, brought up another match point for Kyrgios, who sealed the win when Paul sent a forehand long.
Kyrgios will play another American, fourth seed Reilly Opelka, in the third round. Opelka holds a 2-0 career record against Kyrgios, having beaten the Australian on clay in Houston earlier this year, as well as at last year’s Canadian Open.
In earlier action, Australia’s Daria Saville upset reigning champion, world No.7 Jessica Pegula, 7-5 6-4.
“I just beat a top-10 player, so I’m feeling pretty good,” Saville said. “I think if I keep going this way, I can go as far as the finals. That’s the goal.”
Saville missed most of the 2021 season after having surgery on an Achilles problem, an injury she says has given her greater appreciation for wins like this.
“The reason why I really wanted that surgery, I was like, ‘This is just not giving me a chance to see my whole potential.’
“I was hurting. So now I’m like, ‘OK, you have a chance now every week to see how far you can go, how much improvement you can make.’
“These little wins I take every single day or every single week.”
Elsewhere, Yoshihito Nishioka downed Alex de Minaur, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, while Alexei Popyrin was beaten by Taylor Fritz, 6-4, 6-3.
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