Nick Kyrgios’ successful return to tennis action at Toronto’s Rogers Cup has earned the rising Australian prospect a second round date with two-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray.
In his first match since June’s thrilling Wimbledon run, Kyrgios fought from a break down in the first set to supplant last week’s Washington Citi Open finalist Santiago Giraldo 7-6 (3), 7-5 in the US Open warm-up tournament. Kyrgios took the opening set in a tie-break before stealing a crucial break in the second, wrapping up proceedings in one hour and 35 minutes.
The 19-year-old displayed a bit of rust after a long layoff, but exhibited the same confidence that propelled him to Wimbledon upsets over Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet.
Another top-tier challenger awaits in the second round, eighth seed Andy Murray.
“I’m definitely going to go into the match feeling I’ve got a chance and I’m going to get some opportunities,” Kyrgios said.
“But, you know, it’s going to be one of the toughest matches I have ever played, so I have just got to be ready for it.”
The world No.70 is the only teenager in the top 100 and relishes the chance to play against tennis elite after training with Swiss great Roger Federer.
“I actually had a training week with Federer in Zurich earlier this year and that was probably the best week of my life,” he said.
“On the court it’s not too different,” Kyrgios told reporters of his sudden rise to fame. “Obviously [there’s] a little bit more expectation but that just comes with the success. Off the court it’s changed a lot, especially back in Australia. You get noticed a lot. A lot of people come for photos and all that kind of stuff.
Fellow young Aussie prospect Bernard Tomic suffered another US Open setback after falling to Ivo Karlovic.
The hard-hitting Croatian smashed 30 aces as Tomic failed to match his form from last month’s Bogota Claro Open final, going down 3-6 7-6 (5) 7-6 (6) in the rematch.
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