The quarrel started after Ramos has decided to give Kyrgios a code violation for shouting ‘towel’ at a ballkid during the first set tiebreak. Kyrgios was furious by the decision, and called Ramos’ officiating “bullshit, f*cking bullshit.” Kyrgios also accused Ramos of double standards, showing Novak Djokovic’s pushing of umpire Carlos Bernandes in Rome as an example. “So when Djokovic pushes and umpire that’s alright? I saw towel out loud and I get a code.”
First set showed great level of tennis, especially from Marco Cecchinato. The Italian was on his favorite surface like a fish in water and pushed Kyrgios very deep into the sets. Kyrgios wasted two break points in the first game, and was punished by Cecchinato’s consistent play and there were no more break points in the first set. The first set tiebreak was mainly about Kyrgios’ aforementioned argument with the umpire. The Australian had two set points at 6-4, but Cecchinato saved them both. Kyrgios eventually won the tiebreak 8-6.
Cecchinato was letting up a bit in the second set, his service games weren’t as airtight, allowing Kyrgios to get some break point opportunities, but his incredible defense on clay was enough to keep him in the game all the way to the tiebreak. Kyrgios had 3 set points on Cecchinato’s serve before the tiebreak, but Cecchinato managed to save them all. The Italian then really stepped up his performance in the tiebreak, getting two set points at 6-4. Kyrgios then showed great focus, and won 4 points in a row to take the second set.
After a really good second set tiebreak from Cecchinato, he got to his first break point on Kyrgios’ serve to lead 2-0 in the third set, but Kyrgios saved it and made it the only break point for Cecchinato in the match. Kyrgios then broke to 3-2, and kept the lead throughout the third set. The young Australian had two match points at 5-3, but served the match out a game later. Kyrgios showed impressive stats, winning 81% of points after first serve, 16 aces, making 50 winners to 26 unforced errors. The one stat that looks very bad is the break point conversion rate of 8%, taking only one of the 13 break point opportunities, however it should be more an asterisk to Cecchinato then something Kyrgios should be criticized for.
