It was the less heralded youngster who won a battle of 19-year-olds on Wednesday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Nick Kyrgios had two match points–one in both the second and third sets–but Elias Ymer battled to a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(7) second-round upset after two hours and 27 minutes.
Ymer was one point away from a straight-set defeat as he served at 2-6, 4-5, 30-40 in the second. The world No. 192 also trailed 4-1 in the third set and 6-5 in the decisive tiebreaker but managed to come up with the goods in every pressure situation.
“Playing Nick is always going to be so tough,” Ymer assured. “He’s the one who showed us it’s possible to play against the big guys. He inspired me a lot when he reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year. I know him well; in juniors we played together all the time.
[tweet https://twitter.com/eliasymer/status/590946864972824576]
Amazing point by Ymer last season:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52K4IjlV5S0]
[tweet https://twitter.com/AndreyRublev97/status/590600807889928194]
never heard of Ymer or Rublev before, Ymer will most likely lose to Ferrer very easily
Tennis establishment desperately trying to big up promising youngsters in anticipation of the void to left by the Big 4 when they inevitably retire.
As Rafa said, they are just not good enough, not yet anyway. Sit back and enjoy the Big 4 while they last.