Halle Open 2022: 3 things that stood out in Nick Kyrgios' QF win over Pablo Carreno Busta

Nick Kyrgios of Australia thumped sixth seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Halle Open on Friday in little more than an hour.

The 27-year-old Kyrgios produced an explosive brand of tennis to prevail easily against the Spaniard. Kyrgios will take on Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the semifinals on Saturday.

On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:

#1 The two players exchanged blows from the beginning, but Nick Kyrgios got the vital break:

Both players engaged in powerful exchanges from the baseline from the get-go. Kyrgios started hitting his powerful forehand to put pressure on the Spaniard, but the latter demonstrated exceptional defensive abilities. Kyrgios was aggressive from the beginning and rushed the net on quite a few occasions to finish points.

Neither of the players could break each other in the first four games, but Kyrgios got the decisive lead in the fifth game, hitting a lovely backhand pass to break Carreno Busta to love. Kyrgios then held his serve to love to go 4-2 up.

#2 Nick Kyrgios entertained with his shots as Pablo Carreno Busta had trouble dealing with his serve:

Pablo Carreno Busta had difficulty dealing with his opponent's powerful serve and groundstrokes

Kyrgios was in his element in the first set and exhibited his entire repertoire of shots. He played leaping forehands, shots from between his legs and a few audacious drop shots to entertain the spectators.

Moreover, the Australian’s powerful serve allowed him to win several easy points. Kyrgios fired eight aces in the first set and won 89% of the points off his first serve.

As a result, Carreno Busta could not break back in the first set after the Australian had taken the lead. Both players held their respective serves in the last four games of the first set as Kyrgios won it 6-4.

#3 Nick Kyrgios raised his level further in the second set to walk away with the match:

Kyrgios was even more explosive in the second set and kept hitting winners off either wing. He landed a few backhands deep to push Carreno Busta back and then finished off with forehand winners

Kyrgios broke the Spaniard in the first and fifth games of the second set and never lost his serve. He held a couple of his service games to love in the second set as Carreno Busta had no answer to his explosive serve and groundstrokes. The Australian won the set 6-2 to finish the match.

Kyrgios won more than 90% of the points off his first serve in the match. He also hit 38 winners, including 13 aces, against Carreno Busta’s 0. The Australian committed only four unforced errors in the match to mark a flawless performance.