Nick Kyrgios was in exhibition mode for much of his win over Andy Murray at the Fever-Tree Championships on Tuesday. So why mess with success?
Kyrgios was up to similar tricks on Thursday, and the end result was a another three-set win–this time via a 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-3 decision that earned him a spot in the quarterfinals. The 23-year-old Australian clearly imitated Roger Federer at one point on serve before invoking Gael Monfils’ service motion later in the match.
Yes, @NickKyrgios mimicked Federer's serve in the middle of a match.
Yes, we were entertained. 😂📺: #TCLive pic.twitter.com/ed7YgvCLTn
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 22, 2018
“I thought it was a pretty high-level match from both players,” Kyrgios assessed. “Obviously I served really, really well. I found my rhythm quite early…. I got a bit tight towards the end of the match, which is normal,” said Kyrgios. “I haven’t played a lot of matches in the past couple of months…. We had been playing for a couple of hours and the level had been pretty good. I got pretty tight. Apart from that, I’m always pretty relaxed and 32 aces helps.”
As for Federer, he also won in three sets. The 36-year-old Swiss survived a surprisingly competitive contest against Benoit Paire at the Gerry Weber Open, even saving two match points en route to a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) victory.
“It was a tough match,” Federer assured. “I played at a good level actually. I think he served well and had a good mix and a good variety. It was hard to break. So, naturally, it was always going to be tight. And at the end it was just extremely close. So, I’m fortunate to have made it today.”
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interesting ones
Is Kyrgios going to become the new early-career Djokovic with his impressions of other players? I must admit, I think he could have done a lot better with his Federer serve impression….
He used the word ‘pretty’ 4 times in that interview. Pretty weak vocabulary Nick.
Literally,jees,like, omg. Young people are abusing at least one of those words.
God, I love to watch Kyrgios when he’s ON. He’s really funny and entertaining. Those imitations of Federer😂
Agree. That guy is there for entertaining. He’s in on a self discovery path :)) Hasn’t found himself yet. I hope he tries Roddick’s serve 😉
I don’t agree with Tracy Austin that he’ll win multiple grand slams. I doubt that’s why he plays tennis – to amass a great number of titles and break records. But could could win one GS and rise higher in the ranks — I’d like to live to see him win the year end final and seize the #1 spot. But that’s way out there atm.
Cant see him winning multiple Slams.
But, if he keeps this form going ,maybe he’ll win Wimby this year?
You read it here first 🙂
Kyrgios will win a slam one day, but I still think there’s a long time for that. As the women said above, when/if he gets it all together one day, the slams will come. In the future Kyrgios will not compete against Nadal, Federer, Djokovic for the slams, but against players like Thiem and Zverev. Zverev will most likely be the most winning, as he is the most consistent of them all, but look for Thiem and Kyrgios to win a slam here and there, whenever they are motivated and playing their best.