A star was born today and his name is Nick Kyrgios, a 19-year-old, 6-foot-4 multiethnic qualifier from Australia who saved a record 9 match points against Richard Gasquet in the 2nd round and hit 37 aces to defeat 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3, just weeks after Nadal won his 9th French Open title. It was Nadal's first loss to a player born since 1990: Kyrgios was born in 1995.
The other reigning French Open champion, Maria Sharapova also lost today, but to the #9 seed Angelique Kerber in the highest quality match of the tournament (on either side of the draw) 6-7(4) 6-4 4-6. Sharapova saved 6 match points and had won a string of 3-set matches in a row. Sharapova had 57 winners (but 49 unforced errors) compared to just 9 unforced errors for Kerber.
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| Nick Kyrgios |
Watched Nick take Rafa to task.
ReplyDeleteAmazing serve, superb agility.
Half Greek, half Malaysian guy with abilities beyond Tomic and most assuredly is the next Aussie sensation.