A few years ago, Australian youngster Nick Kyrgios was touted as tennis’s next poster boy. Even as a teen, the player’s speed and natural game were noticed on multiple occasions.
This year, the 21-year old Australian has proved that. A few hours ago, Kyrgios scripted one of THE upsets of the Indian Wells by defeating Novak Djokovic in straight sets, his second successive victory over the Serb within days.
He defeated Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open, also in straight sets, nearly two weeks ago.Kyrgios has established himself as one of the rising stars of tennis through plenty of promising performances in the past couple of years. Many current and former players expect him to be to be a future Grand Slam champion as well as a future World No.1.
Here are five of Kyrgios’ best career performances.
#5 Over Stan Wawrinka, 2016 Madrid Masters
Kyrgios scripted one of the biggest upset of the 2016 Madrid Masters by stunning fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the second round. The 20-year-old defeated Argentine Guido Pella in the first round to set up a second round clash against Wawrinka, who was given a bye in the first round due to his position in the draw.
The match began in exciting fashion, with the first set going neck-to-neck. Kyrgios took the first set 7-6, after winning the tie-break.
The second set was becoming nearly identical to the first, with neither player willing to give in – and this set also went to a tie-breaker. This time, however, tie-breaker was one-sided compared to that of the first set – Kyrgios won 7-2 to send Wawrinka packing and enter the third round of the tournament.
He would go on to lose in the quarter-finals to eventual semi-finalist Kei Nishikori despite taking the first set.
#4. Over David Goffin, ATP500 Japan Open 2017.... and a title win!
After withdrawing from his third round match at the US Open, Kyrgios began the Asian swing in disastrous manner as he was knocked out in the second round of the Chengdu Open by Kevin Anderson. However, Kyrgios rebounded brilliantly in the following tournament- the Japan Open.Seeded fifth in the competition, Kyrgios began well by defeating American Ryan Harrison in the first round in straight sets. He reached the quarter-finals after his second round opponent Radek Stepanek pulled out of the match.Kyrgios registered straight set wins over Gilles Muller and Gael Monfils in the quarters and semis respectively to set up a title clash against sixth seed David Goffin.Kyrgios dropped his first set of the tournament after Goffin took the first set 6-4 but bounced back brilliantly by taking the second set 6-3 and won the match by winning a close third set 7-5 to win his maiden ATP 500 title.
#3. Over Novak Djokovic, Mexican Open 2017
After a disappointing second round exit at the Australian Open at the hands of Italian Andreas Seppi despite being two sets up, Kyrgios bounced back strongly at the Mexican Open.Seeded sixth in the tournament, Kyrgios did not have the best of starts to the tournament as he lost his very first set of the tournament against Dudi Sela. However, he bounced back to defeat the Israeli in three sets. A straight set win over Donald Young in the second round took Kyrgios to the quarter-finals where he would play top seed and tournament favorite Novak Djokovic which was his first ever meeting against the Serb.The match began brilliantly with both players playing really well in the first set but Kyrgios’ serve did the trick as he took the set in a tie-break. The second set was also a very close one but once again, it was the young Australian who made a crucial break to take the set 7-5 and produce one of the upsets of the tournament. However, Kyrgios was eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winner Sam Querrey.
#2. Over Roger Federer in R2 at 2015 Madrid Masters
Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios played the best match of the Madrid Masters during their second round encounter with Kyrgios edging out Federer to script one of the upsets of the tournament. Kyrgios began the tournament by defeating qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round in straight sets to set up a second round encounter against top seed Roger Federer.The match turned out to be one of the finest matches of the year with every set of the match going to a tie-break. Federer took the first set by winning the tie-break 7-2 before Kyrgios bounced back in the match to win the exciting second set tie-break 7-5. Kyrgios produced the upset of the tournament by winning an even exciting third set tie-break 14-12 to progress into the third round. However, he lost to John Isner in three sets.
#1. Defeating Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships
The 2014 Wimbledon Championships was perhaps the tournament where Kyrgios first gained recognition. Kyrgios was given a wildcard to the main draw and boy did he make good use of that.
He defeated Frenchman Stephane Robert in the first round in four sets before creating a huge upset by ousting former semi-finalist Richard Gasquet despite dropping the first two sets. He then came from a set down to defeat Czech Jiri Vesely in four sets to set up a clash against second seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.The first set was pretty exciting as it went to a tie-break, but it was Kyrgios who took the set by winning 7-5. However, Nadal bounced back in the match to take the second set 7-5.
The third set went to another tie-break and Kyrgios took the lead in the match by taking the tie-break 7-5. Kyrgios totally outplayed Nadal by winning the fourth set 6-3 to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final where he lost to Milos Raonic in four sets despite winning the first. Nevertheless, his victory over Nadal will definitely be the biggest one of his career as of now.
