Kyrgios comes up with goods

SYDNEY, January 7

Australian Nick Kyrgios outlasted No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(7) 6-7(3) 7-6(5) after an intense duel to seal the tie for the hosts against Greece at the inaugural ATP Cup team event in Brisbane today.

Kyrgios slammed a backhand winner on matchpoint and fell on his back to celebrate his second win in as many meetings against the ATP Finals champion as the partisan crowd at the Pat Rafter Arena roared on.

His win ensured Australia will go to the knockouts having won all their ties in the $15 million ATP Cup.

“Exhausting! It was lot of fun. Knew it was going to be a tough match,” Kyrgios said in a courtside interview. “He’s an amazing player and he’s so young. He’s going to do some special things in the sport.”

While Kyrgios, who has been placed on probation by the governing body of men’s tennis over his behaviour, losing his cool on court is not surprising, it was Tsitsipas who was docked a point for hitting a ball at the Greek Team Zone. The 21-year-old also broke his racquet in frustration after losing the opening set which earned him a berating from his mother, who was present in the team zone. Kyrgios stayed unfazed and kept his focus on his own game.

Shapovalov keeps in shape

Denis Shapovalov, 20, needed just 70 minutes to brush aside world No. 7 Alexander Zverev 6-2 6-2, who lost his third straight singles before the year’s first Grand Slam starting in Melbourne on January 20.

Zverev, the 2018 ATP Finals champion, served seven double faults against Shapovalov to take his total for the tournament to 31. “There’s a lot of things that I still need to improve,” Zverev said.

Shapovalov returned with teammate Felix Auger-Aliassime to win the deciding doubles rubber against Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies 6-3 7-6(4), earning Canada a 2-1 win in the tie to keep them in the hunt for the quarterfinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev won his third straight singles rubber in Perth, beating Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-3 7-6(6). Dan Evans completed a one-sided 6-2 6-2 win over Radu Albot to seal Britain’s victory over Moldova in Sydney. — Reuters

Smoke delays unlikely at Australian Open

Sydney: Smoke from bushfires is unlikely to delay the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam, organisers said today, insisting they have pulled out all the stops to protect the health and safety of players. With the opening Major of 2020 due to start at January 20, Melbourne has been blanketed by haze in recent days from blazes burning to the east part of Australia’s bushfire crisis that has left 25 people dead. Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley said: “There has been a lot of speculation about whether the smoke from the bushfires will affect the Australian Open. All the information we have at the moment, with qualifying coming up next week, is that the forecast is good, we don’t expect any delays and we’ve implemented additional measures to ensure the Australian Open will be able to run as scheduled.” afp