Kyrgios Hangs Tough To Beat Karlovic In Cincinnati
Nick Kyrgios hung tough on Friday as he began a double shift at the Western & Southern Open. The Australian advanced to his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final (also Indian Wells and Miami) of the year by finding a way past Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over one hour and 56 minutes. The pair began today with Karlovic leading 4-3 in the first set, following rain on Thursday.
"It was tough, obviously," said Kyrgios. "Coming back today, I had a very slow start. It was very windy out there, so I couldn't get anything going on my serve. Obviously he can serve through any sort of type of conditions. I just had to stay tough. Obviously, I got a couple of lucky points in the tie-break and forced a third set. I just managed to find some rhythm and find some energy and obviously take the third set."
Kyrgios will now play top seed and 2013 champion Rafael Nadal later today for a place in the semi-finals. Kyrgios trails Nadal 1-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but the pair has never met on hard courts. "I know it's going to be a tough battle," said Kyrgios.
Karlovic broke Kyrgios in the final game of the first set and looked in a good serving rhythm (28 aces, losing 11 first-service points in total) before his Australian opponent made inroads on return, with clever low placement. Kyrgios led 5/2 in the tie-break, but Karlovic came close to a 6/5 advantage but for striking a forehand volley wide when lunging for the ball. Kyrgios maintained his composure in the decider and sealed the crucial break in the fourth game. Although Kyrgios could not convert two match points on Karlovic's serve at 5-2, he closed out to love in the next game for his 24th match win of the season.
Source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/kyrgios-karlovic-cincinnati-2017-friday
"It was tough, obviously," said Kyrgios. "Coming back today, I had a very slow start. It was very windy out there, so I couldn't get anything going on my serve. Obviously he can serve through any sort of type of conditions. I just had to stay tough. Obviously, I got a couple of lucky points in the tie-break and forced a third set. I just managed to find some rhythm and find some energy and obviously take the third set."
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| Nick Kyrgios withstood 28 aces from Ivo Karlovic's racquet on Friday to book his place in the Cincinnati quarter-finals. |
Karlovic broke Kyrgios in the final game of the first set and looked in a good serving rhythm (28 aces, losing 11 first-service points in total) before his Australian opponent made inroads on return, with clever low placement. Kyrgios led 5/2 in the tie-break, but Karlovic came close to a 6/5 advantage but for striking a forehand volley wide when lunging for the ball. Kyrgios maintained his composure in the decider and sealed the crucial break in the fourth game. Although Kyrgios could not convert two match points on Karlovic's serve at 5-2, he closed out to love in the next game for his 24th match win of the season.
Source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/kyrgios-karlovic-cincinnati-2017-friday
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