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Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios got the crowd cheering and up on their feet when he played an extraordinary forehand shot around the net in his first-round doubles match at the 2022 Rakuten Japan Open.
The 27-year-old played alongside fellow countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis as they came up against local players Yoshihito Nishioka and Kaichi Uchida, where the all-Australian pair cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory. The World No. 20 received a wide volley from Nishioka and made the most of the angle, sending the ball flying between the chair umpire and the post.
The clip of the impressive shot is already doing the rounds on social media, and Kyrgios himself was impressed with it, reacting to a video of it posted on Twitter with pride.
"I'm good," tweeted Kyrgios.
The Citi Open champion has made a solid start in Japan in both the singles and doubles competitions. Kyrgios cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Taiwan's Tseng Chun-hsin in his opening-round match yesterday and is set to face Kamil Majchrzak in the next fixture.
“It kind of added a bit of fuel to me” - Nick Kyrgios reflects on US Open disappointment ahead of Japan Open
Tennis star Nick Kyrgios sat down in a pre-tournament press conference ahead of the Rakuten Japan Open where he looked back on his disappointing US Open campaign. However, the Australian has taken out the positives from his quarterfinal loss to Karen Khachalov and explained that it has "added a bit of fuel" to him.
"It kind of added a bit of fuel to me. I’ve been working hard ever since I lost to Khachanov. I went back home, had a couple of days off then got straight back out on the court," said Kyrgios.
The World No .20 is a big fan of the tournament in Tokyo and expressed his admiration for the people and surroundings.
"It's easy to get motivated for tournaments like this. The people are great, the atmosphere's great. I've had great memories here before. I'm super excited to be here, that's for sure. I had this circled on my calendar all year,” said Nick Kyrgios.
Japanese tennis fans will be upset that one of their local stars, Kei Nishikori, will not feature in this year's tournament as the player recovers from hip surgery he had back in january. Kyrgios said it was unfortunate that the Japanese player won't be making the tournament and views him as one of his toughest opponents.
"For me personally, Kei is a nightmare matchup for me. It's unfortunate to not see him around because, as probably one of the best Asian players ever to play, you want to see these types of players in these tournaments... He's a great guy, he's well-liked in the locker room, he's super friendly. I hope to see Kei back on Tour as soon as possible, he's definitely a big part of it,” said Nick Kyrgios.
