Australia’s Nick Kyrgios is beaming with confidence after storming into the second round of the Citi Open in Washington.
The world No.63 and former champion needed only 60 minutes to see off the 53rd-ranked Marcos Giron 6-3 6-2 and set up a round-of-32 clash with another American in Tommy Paul.
Having skipped last week’s singles event in Atlanta due to a knee complaint, the Wimbledon finalist showed plenty of positive signs as his preparations ramp up ahead of this month’s US Open in New York.
The 27-year-old is confident he has put last month’s loss to Novak Djokovic in London behind him ahead of his next crack at a grand slam.
“There are so many things I would have done differently I think now that I have digested that match, but I’m doing all the right things to put myself in that position again,” Kyrgios said of his four-set Wimbledon defeat.
“I’m having a great year. I think if Wimbledon had points, I think I’d be around top 15, top 20 in the world. I definitely feel like I’m playing that level of tennis — if not top 10, top five at the moment.”
The Canberran blasted down 12 aces and won 82 per cent of his first serves in his first singles match since his grass season ended to bring the curtain down on the opening round in the US capital.
“Yeah came out a bit slow, obviously very different conditions to Wimbledon but I think a bit of nerves as well,” Kyrgios said.
“You know I won the tournament in 2019, seeing my name up on the stadium and then knowing that I didn’t play well at all here last year – I lost first round.
“I was just going through such a dark time in my life and I’m just so happy to be here with my team. The love and support I’m getting from the crowd, I’m just really happy to be out here playing some really good tennis again.”
Earlier in the day, Sebastian Korda set up a round-of-32 meeting with 12th-seeded Argentine Sebastian Baez by defeating Ilya Ivashka 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
Top-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev was a 6-4 6-2 winner over Englishman Jack Draper and seventh seed compatriot Karen Khachanov beat Dominik Koepfer of Germany 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-4.
16th seed Daniel Evans won the all-British contest with Kyle Edmund 6-1 6-2 while eighth seed Botic Van de Zandschlup also moved into the last 16 after the Dutchman saw off Croatia’s Borna Gojo 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4.
With AP.
