Kyrgios, Kokkinakis Bring The Heat In Miami Wins

After a dominant run to the quarter-finals in Indian Wells, Nick Kyrgios stayed hot in Miami with another straight-sets victory on Wednesday. His 7-6(3), 6-3 win did not come easy against the “ridicuously tricky” Adrian Mannarino, but strong serving kept the pressure off and set up power-packed late strikes in both sets.

A wild card at both U.S. events, Kyrgios did not drop a set on the West Coast until a tightly contested three-set loss to Rafael Nadal. He picked up where he left off at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The Aussie posted an 82 per cent win rate on first serve, making 75 per cent of his first deliveries, and did not allow the crafty Frenchman a break point.

“That first-serve percentage was key tonight,” Kyrgios said post-match. “If I miss my first serve, he’s going to be on the front foot from the early jump, and I couldn’t afford to do that tonight against such a tricky opponent.”

While Mannarino was strong on serve himself, allowing just one break chance in each set, Kyrgios struck a flurry of return winners at the crucial moments in both sets.

“The conditions tonight just did not help me at all,” Kyrgios added. “I felt like I wasn’t able to get him out of his comfort zone from the ground… I thought I returned extremely well.”

He found a killer angle off the return to secure an early mini-break in the first-set tie-break, surprising even himself with his precision from outside the doubles alley.

On the return at 3-4 in the second, Kyrgios fired back-to-back backhand return winners to turn 30/15 into 30/40. He had to wait a little longer to find a winner on break point, as he showed great patience before a lengthy rally with a looping forehand.

Ace No. 12 ended the match after one hour, 32 minutes, setting up a second-round showdown with Andrey Rublev, already a two-time ATP Tour champion in 2022.

“I grew up with him, I’ve seen him play. He’s a hell of a player,” said Kyrgios, who has a 1-1 ATP Head2Head record against the fifth seed. “Obviously we all know what he’s capable of and I’m going into that match as a complete underdog.

“But I feel confident. If I’m serving well and playing well form the back I can beat anyone, and everyone knows that. I’m excited.”

Kyrgios’ doubles partner, Thanasi Kokkinakis, was also victorious against a veteran French opponent on Wednesday evening. The 25-year-old was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Richard Gasquet.

Kokkinakis had the better of the early exchanges but missed out on his first four break points as Gasquet led, 3-4. But from there, the Aussie won nine of the last 11 games to ease through to the second round, where he’ll face 13th seed Diego Schwartzman.

The World No. 96 improved on his showing at Indian Wells, where he qualified before losing to Sebastian Korda in the opening round. He again qualified in Miami, matching his efficiency at that stage in the desert by doing so with a pair of straight-sets wins.

After winning their maiden Grand Slam doubles title at the Australian Open, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios reached the Round of 16 in Indian Wells.