ATP TENNIS NEWS – TWO FOR TWO: KYRGIOS ONCE AGAIN TOPPLES WORLD NO. 2 DJOKOVIC, THIS TIME IN INDIAN WELLS

Written by: Staff on 15th March 2017

ATP TENNIS NEWS - TWO FOR TWO: KYRGIOS ONCE AGAIN TOPPLES WORLD NO. 2 DJOKOVIC, THIS TIME IN INDIAN WELLS

epa05851018 Novak Djokovic of Serbia walks off the court after losing to Nick Kyrgios of Australia in their match at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, USA 15 March 2017. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH |

By Ricky Dimon

There would be no revenge for Novak Djokovic at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday afternoon.

Two weeks after losing to Nick Kyrgios 7-6(9), 7-5 in Acapulco, Djokovic went down again at the hands of the 21-year-old Australian via a 6-4, 7-6(3) decision during fourth-round action in Indian Wells. Kyrgios crushed 14 aces and won 86 percent of his first-serve points to book a quarterfinal spot after one hour and 51 minutes.

Coming off a tough three-set win over Juan Martin Del Potro on Tuesday night, Djokovic was forced to play an afternoon match because both he and Kyrgios had doubles contests on their schedules later on Wednesday. Showing signs of mental and physical fatigue, the three-time defending champion was totally out of sorts in the early going. Kyrgios dominated the opening set, breaking right away for 1-0 before earning break-point opportunities in two other games. Although the world No. 16 could not convert the next two, it hardly mattered because he dropped only seven points in his first five service games.

Djokovic fought off a pair of break points in the second but again failed to generate any break chances of his own. A tiebreaker ensued and Kyrgios never trailed in it after racing to a 3-0 lead.

Just like that, Djokovic suffered his first loss in the California desert since 2013–ending a streak of 19 consecutive match victories.

“The run was amazing,” the world No. 2 reflected. “I am very proud of it, obviously. It had to end at some stage. Unfortunately, it was today. Nick–again, as he did in Acapulco a few weeks ago–served so well. (I) just wasn’t managing to get a lot of balls back on his serve. So I guess that’s what made a difference.”

Nick Kyrgios of Australia returns a shot to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their match at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, USA, 15 March 2017. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH

“I knew it was going to be a tough battle today,” Kyrgios commented. “I knew he wanted to come out there and, obviously after Acapulco, to come out there and win. The conditions are completely different here than they are in Acapulco. I don’t think I served anywhere near as I did in Acapulco. I fought for every point, and obviously we were a bit–I think both of us were a bit nervous at times.

I thought it was a pretty good match. I played the crucial points pretty well. Yeah, it was good to get through.”

Up next for Kyrgios on Friday is Roger Federer, who trounced Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and eight minutes on Wednesday evening.

“I’m very impressed him taking out Novak [in back-to-back matches against him] on Novak’s best surface. I hope it’s going to lead to something great for Nick (and) that he realizes if he puts his head down and focuses that he can bring it day in and day out, week in and week out. That’s maybe going to take a bit more time, but just that he can run through tournaments…that’s why he can win tournaments–because when it matters the most against the best and in finals, he’s there.”