Kyrgios keeps Aussie flag flying
Print Edition
NOW he’s no longer just the kid who upset Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, he’s the teenager who beat the guy who beat Roger Federer at the Australian Open.
Nick Kyrgios came back from two sets down and saved a match point to beat Andreas Seppi 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 8-6 yesterday, becoming the first Aussie to reach the last eight in the Melbourne Park men’s draw since 2005, and the first male teenager since Federer in 2001 to reach two grand slam quarterfinals. His first words to a packed Hisense Arena, where the crowd chanted and screamed like football fans: “Thanks mate. Feels so good.”
Seppi beat Federer in the third round — the 17-time grand slam winner’s earliest exit at the Australian Open in 14 years — and was on course to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in 40 majors when he had match point in the fourth set.
The 19-year-old Kyrgios had experience in coming back from 0-2 at Wimbledon — he saved nine match points in the second round against Richard Gasquet — where he also beat No. 1 Nadal in the fourth round en route to the quarterfinals on his debut at the grasscourt championship.
“I know that he had a lot of confidence, obviously, beating Roger,” Kyrgios said. “Drawing all my experience from Wimbledon, coming back from two sets down, I knew I had the legs to do that.”
“It’s crazy,” he later added, on reflection. “When I saw I had finally won the match it was incredible, it was the best feeling I ever had. It’s just massive confidence.”
Next up for Nick Kyrgios is a quarterfinal against Andy Murray, a two-time grand slam champion and three-time Australian Open finalist, who overcame racket-smashing Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5 to secure a spot in the last eight at his 16th consecutive major. In a 3-hour, 32-minute minute match filled with stunning shots from both players, Murray rallied from 2-5 down in the fourth set to close out against the 23-year-old Bulgarian who has been dubbed “Baby Fed” by those who compare his style with Federer’s.
No.2-ranked Maria Sharapova dropped serve in the first set before winning the last eight games of her 6-3, 6-0 fourth-round victory over No. 21-seeded Peng Shuai, advancing her to a showdown with Eugenie Bouchard, the most consistent player in women’s majors last season.
Seventh-seeded Bouchard won nine of the first 10 games against Irina-Camelia Begu, but lost seven of the next nine. After serving a double-fault on set point to end the second, Bouchard took a short break before returning to complete a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win. “She’s playing really well, confident tennis. So aggressive,” Sharapova said. “I have a tough match ahead of me, but I always look forward to that.”
Momentum in Nadal’s 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win over Kevin Anderson swung on two games at the end of the first set. Nadal fended off five break points to hold, and then broke the 2.03-meter-tall South African’s serve to trigger his winning roll. He will next face No. 7 Tomas Berdych, who had a 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over Bernard Tomic.
French Open finalist Simona Halep beat Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal against No. 10 Ekaterina Makarova, who edged out Julia Goerges.
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