Kyrgios Locks In For Ruud Upset

A locked-in Nick Kyrgios soared to his first Top 10 win in more than two years on Monday night at the BNP Paribas Open. After blitzing through his opening two rounds with the loss of four games per match, Kyrgios levelled up to knock off World No. 8 Casper Ruud.

The 26-year-old’s confidence and concentration level shined through in a 6-4, 6-4 upset that evened his ATP Head2Head against the Norweigan at 1-1. Kyrgios’ all-out attack yielded early breaks in both sets, and he never came close to letting his lead — or his focus — slip in a one-hour, 16-minute victory.

In an efficient performance, the Aussie converted both of his break points and did not face any on his own serve. Kyrgios was never pushed as far as deuce on his own deal, firing seven aces and winning 82 per cent (28/34) of his first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

With his Australian Open doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis watching from the stands, Kyrgios looked more than capable of backing up the pair’s Melbourne title with the Indian Wells singles crown.

Nick Moves Forward ➡@NickKyrgios ousts Ruud 6-4 6-4 to set up a R4 encounter against Sinner!

Hasn’t dropped serve all week…#IndianWells pic.twitter.com/SzXYUpetpn

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 15, 2022

Buoyed by early leads in both sets, Kyrgios was positive and vocal throughout the contest, pumping himself up at key moments but keeping a very even keel even after some show-stopping winners.

The closest he came to trouble was at 15/30 as he served out the match. But he showcased his variety to close it out in style with an ace, a backhand volley winner and a measured 19-ball rally that ended with a forced error from his opponent.

A seven-time ATP Tour champion, most recently on the Buenos Aires clay in February, Ruud was unable to match his fourth-round run from his Indian Wells main-draw debut five months ago.

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Kyrgios, whose six tour-level titles have all come on outdoor hard courts, has only been beyond the second round at Indian Wells once before. He made the most of that 2017 run by beating Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic to reach the quarter-finals, but withdrew with illness before facing Roger Federer.

In order to reach the quarter-finals this year, Kyrgios will have to get through 10th seed Jannik Sinner, who edged Benjamin Bonzi, 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4, earlier on Monday.