Jannik Sinner saved eight match points across his first two matches at the Miami Open presented by Itau, but on Tuesday he did not need to toe the limit so closely. The ninth seed played his best tennis against the red-hot Nick Kyrgios, defeating the Australian 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at Hard Rock Stadium.
The 20-year-old made his first ATP Masters 1000 final one year ago in Miami on his tournament debut, and he is now 8-1 at the event. Sinner will next play 28th seed Frances Tiafoe or Argentine Francisco Cerundolo.
In the pair’s first ATP Head2Head clash, Kyrgios, who lost a combined nine games against seeded opponents Andrey Rublev and Fabio Fognini, seemed keen on making another quick start. Sinner was forced to save a break point in two of his first three service games, but he held on in those moments, and neither man lost serve in the opening set.
It all came apart for Kyrgios in the ensuing tie-break. Sinner gave him no free points early on, and the Australian then received a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct following chatter about the chair umpire. Kyrgios was unable to overcome that, eventually hitting a frustrated double fault to lose the set.
The wild card then smashed his racquet against his bag and the court, which led to him receiving a game penalty. That cost the Aussie dearly, as he was set to serve to start the second set. It essentially gave Sinner a break advantage to begin the second set, which the five-time ATP Tour titlist took full advantage of.
Kyrgios had some high moments, hitting a flurry of volleys on one point, finishing the sequence with a stunning drop volley. In the final game of the match, he also hit an impressive forehand volley on the full stretch against an approaching Sinner.
But Sinner was the more consistent of the two players, especially from his ground. His easy power prevented Kyrgios from controlling the action and put pressure on him to make poor shot selection.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/h5eaYtR
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