Kyrgios Cruises Under Lights

Swinging freely under lights on the Old Grandstand court, Nick Kyrgios is off to a flying start at the 2016 US Open, downing Aljaz Bedene in straight sets. The 14^th-seeded Australian moved past the Brit, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in under two hours.

Having raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set, the Canberra native saw his lead slip and appeared troubled when he took an injury time-out for treatment on his hip and lower back. Returning to the court to serve, he brought up two set points with a big off-forehand winner and closed out the set on his second opportunity with an ace, before leaving the court for more treatment.

Kyrgios downplayed the injury, citing his grueling training schedule leading into the US Open.

“I was nursing a little bit of an injury, and I how I responded was really well. I’m really happy,” Kyrgios said. “I thought I played solid, returned well, served well, hit the ball well. That was a pretty good all-around performance.

“It’s my hip. It’s fine at the moment. Obviously with the US Open I wanted to find my form, and I don’t know, just a bit of a load but it’s OK. It’s nothing to worry about.”

The 21 year old was rarely troubled from then on. He broke early in both second and third sets before bringing up match point with an unreturnable first serve. Kyrgios closed it out when Bedene dumped a forehand into the net, setting up a second-round meeting with Argentine Horacio Zeballos.

The Aussie relished the close confines of the Old Grandstand and said he enjoying the crowd interaction.

“I don’t really zone it out, to be honest,” Kyrgios said of the crowd interjections. “Some guy was like, ‘Change your clothes, that’s an awful outfit’.

“I was trying to come up with a comeback. I didn’t want to say anything. He was an old man. He got me this time.”

The chances of an all-Australian Top-20 showdown in the third round, however, were foiled. In a rematch of their US Open first-round match from last year, Bosnian Damir Dzumhur gained revenge on 17^th seed Bernard Tomic with a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(0) upset.

The World No. 72 in the Emirates ATP Rankings had never won a match at Flushing Meadows but bolted out of the blocks to take a two-set lead before Tomic could find his range. Dzumhur broke for 5-4 in the fourth set to serve for the match but the Aussie rallied, eventually forcing the tie-break.

A wild forehand return from Tomic slapped into the net gave Dzumhur a 5/0 lead before a double fault brought up six match points. Dzumhur took it on his first opportunity, leaving Tomic stranded with an off-backhand return winner.