Nick Kyrgios has delivered another masterclass to put Alex de Minaur to the sword and scorch into the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open.
De Minaur entered the first-time showdown with his Davis Cup teammate as Australian No.1, but copped a nasty reality check in a 6-2, 6-3 mauling at the hands of the hottest player on tour.
Kyrgios needed barely an hour to wrap up a 15th win from his past 16 matches and guarantee himself another important rankings boost ahead of the US Open starting on August 29.
At times it looked like Kyrgios was toying with de Minaur, who barely won a point in the opening four games.
He finally got on the board but Kyrgios, mixing stylish serve-volley plays with ferocious power from the back, effortlessly took the opening set in 23 minutes before immediately grabbing an early break in the second.
He briefly lost composure after failing to serve out the match at 5-2 but regained his cool to clinch victory with a ruthless fourth break of de Minaur’s serve.
Nick Kyrgios will head to the season’s final grand slam as one of the world’s top 30.Credit:The Canadian Press
“After yesterday’s big high, today was really hard mentally for me to go out and play Alex,” Kyrgios said. “We’re such good friends, he’s been having such a good career and carrying the Australian flag for so long. It was just tough mentally, it’s never easy to play a friend like that especially if they’re an Australian so I just got out here and got the job done.
“I played the way I had to play – he’s a hell of a player. If you play to his strengths he’s one of the best players from the back [of the court] in the game and he’s so fast, he’s going to have a hell of a career.”