Djokovic goes down to Kyrgios in Acapulco, Nadal keeps rolling into semifinals
Novak Djokovic survived a barrage of forehands by Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round. He could not withstand lethal serving by Nick Kyrgios 24 hours later.
Djokovic’s brutal draw at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel continued in Thursday’s quarterfinals and he was knocked out by Kyrgios 7-6(9), 7-5 after a dizzying display of aces off the Aussie’s racket. Kyrgios sent 25 serves flying past Djokovic, put in 73 percent of his first deliveries, and won at least 75 percent of the points on both his first and second serves to pull off the upset in one hour and 47 minutes.
“It’s what I dreamed of as a little kid, playing on these great venues against some of the greatest players in the world,” the 21-year-old commented. “I never have a problem getting up for these matches.”
The stats certainly back up that claim. Kyrgios can always say he beat Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal in his first match again each of those greats.
He almost didn’t get a shot at Djokovic. The second-ranked Serb needed two hours and 38 minutes to get past Del Potro 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday night and he did not have quite enough in the tank physically or mentally to deal with a red-hot Kyrgios. Djokovic managed to stay on even terms most of the way, but a disastrous service game at 5-6 in the second set sealed his losing fate.
“I wasn’t thinking about winning at any stage,” Kyrgios said. “I knew I had to stay in the moment because I’ve been in situations where matches have gotten away from me, so I had to stay switched on the whole time. I knew that if I just waited and waited, eventually I’d get my chance.”
He may get another chance against one of the aforementioned greatest players in the world in Saturday’s final. That will be the case if Kyrgios beats Sam Querrey and Nadal takes care of Marin Cilic in Friday’s semis.
The sixth-ranked Spaniard picked up his third straight-set victory of the week when he defeated Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6(3), 6-3 on Thursday night. Nadal recovered from a break down in the opening set and eventually prevailed in one hour and 57 minutes.
“It’s true that I played not that well like the days before,” the No. 2 seed admitted. “For moments I was trying to hit the winner too early, sometimes too late. He played well. It was a tough match; I’m happy to be through.”
Topics: 10sballs.com, Abierto Mexicano Telcel, ATP Acapulco, Mexico Tennis Open, Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic, Sports, Tennis News