TENNIS US OPEN – Nick Kyrgios brought youthful exuberance to court against veteran Mikhail Youzhny as he got his 1st US Open win 7-5 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(1). Cordell Hackshaw
Mikhail Youzhny (21) and Nick Kyrgios represent the past, present and future of men’s professional tennis. Youzhny at 32 years old is a tour veteran and Kyrgios who is 19, has a lot of buzz behind his name particular since he knocked out Rafael Nadal at this year’s Wimbledon. Now Kyrgios find himself playing yet another big name on tour for a place in the next round of a major. In this matchup of youth verses experience, the younger player won out causing the first upset of the tournament. Kyrgios showed himself to be well-abled to deal with the pressure of playing the top players at big tournaments. The Australian won the 3-hour battle in the heat taking it 7-5 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(1).
In the opening set, things were rather even between the players although Kyrgios looked the more aggressive. They were going for their shots and serving well, holding serve with relative ease. However, in the 11th game of the set, Kyrgios’ aggressive return stance paid dividend as he got the lone break of the set for 6-5. He easily held serve yet again to take the set 7-5. The 2nd set was a different affair; Kyrgios had an early break for 3-1 and had another break opportunity for 4-1. Youzhny was able to avoid double break deficit. Serving for a 5-3 lead, Kyrgios lost his concentration and then his serve to level things at 4-4. They remained on serve to force a decisive tiebreaker. Kyrgios was showing clear signs of frustration on the court. However, despite all the noisy antics from Kyrgios for most of the set, in the breaker he was cool and calm and outplayed his opponent. Youzhny was misfiring on his trademark backhand which never allowed him to gain any momentum in the breaker. Kyrgios now led 2-0 sets.
Youzhny finally found his game in the 3rd set. He was moving better and reducing the careless errors. He broke early for 2-0 on yet another point penalty issued against Kyrgios. The Australian was cursing and having mini tantrums on court. The chair umpire had zero tolerance for this behaviour and was one violation away from handing the match to Youzhny via a default. Youzhny seized upon this opportunity and wrapped up the 3rd set in 28 minutes, 6-2. Youzhny carried over this fine level of play into the 4th set and was up 5-3 with a set point to force a decisive 5th set. However, he soon reverted to his lackadaisical ways allowing Kyrgios to dictate play. Kyrgios got back on serve and led 6-5, forcing Youzhny to serve to stay in the match. Youzhny held serve to go to another tiebreaker but that was about all he could do for the rest of the match. He played a most pitiful breaker, never once looking like the more experience player. Kyrgios raced out to a 4-0 lead and did not look back. He took it 7-1 points as well as the match 7-5 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(1) in just over 3 hours.
Kyrgios was generally pleased with his match. He had 26 aces, got 70% of his 1st serves in and won 71% of the points with 68 winners compared to 57 errors. He himself admitted as much saying, “I knew I had to serve well, and I hit 26 aces. Those are good stats … I think it’s really good, especially from a confidence standpoint. I had to pull out of Cincinnati. You know, first match back and getting the win in four sets over a quality player like that, it’s a good confidence boost.” Kyrgios has admitted recently that he feels a lot of pressure on him since his Nadal victory. However, he noted at the Open that he has to manage all of this better as his career goes forward. Youzhny on the other hand, will have other things to look at. He has not gone past the 2nd round of a major this year and now has been bounced out of the tournament in the 1st round when he made the quarterfinals last year. He played a very tepid match today. Very rarely did he look like a top player on court. Hopefully, he can turn things around for the rest of the season and start 2015 in a far more positive light.
