By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Stan Wawrinka withstood 26 aces from his nemesis wearing down Nick Kyrgios, 1-6, 7-5, 7-5, to reach the Toronto second round.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy
Pummeled in a lopsided first set, an erratic Stan Wawrinka looked like a man on the verge of his fourth opening-round exit in his last six tournaments.
Moving a bit closer to the baseline, Wawrinka whipped some timely strikes to take the fight to Nick Kyrgios.
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In a rematch of a past grudge match, Wawrinka withstood 26 aces from his explosive nemesis wearing down Kyrgios, 1-6, 7-5, 7-5, to reach the Toronto second round.
Kyrgios controlled the match for a set-and-a-half, but Wawrinka competed with more tenacity throughout, raised his first-serve percentage and exploited Kyrgios' penchant for playing circus shots at crunch time.
The 23-year-old Aussie tried serving-and-volleying down set point in the second set and match point in the decider only to see Wawrinka whizz slashing returns to deny him.
Three years ago, Kyrgios made a crude comment about Wawrinka's girlfriend, WTA pro Donna Vekic, that on-court microphones picked up as the volatile Aussie built a 6-7 (8), 6-3, 4-0 lead over Wawrinka when the Swiss retired.
The pair reportedly nearly came to blows in the lockerrrom afterward.
Bad blood seems to be behind them as they exchanged friendly greetings both during today's pre-match coin toss and after the match with Wawrinka patting Kyrgios on the chest.
Still, shotmaking fireworks can erupt when these two square off.
The 16th-seeded Kyrgios completely dominated the opening set shifting speeds and spins brilliantly on serve.
Taking the ball earlier in baseline rallies, Kyrgios bled three straight errors from the Swiss' normally rock-solid backhand breaking at love for 3-1. That was part of a five-game surge that saw Kyrgios cruised to a one-set lead.
The world No. 17 barely looked fazed in the process.
In fact, Kyrgios played with casual-cool flair hitting rally tweeners, drop shots and even elevating for a flying tomahawk forehand winner at one point.
Persistently pushing the sturdy Swiss behind the baseline, Kyrgios sometimes tormented Wawrinka with the drop shot exploiting his deep court positioning.
In the seventh game, Stan made a stand.
Rifling a forehand crosscourt behind his opponent, Wawrkina ripped his fourth ace out wide withstanding a three deuce game holding for 4-3.
Even when he appears in command, Kyrgios can be his own worst enemy—or subject to sudden stings of pain from his cranky hip injury.
Though he had not dropped serve in the match and dominated the opening set, a frustrated Kyrgios, seemingly pained by his hip after landing a serve, belted a ball into the seats in the eighth game, incurring a code violation warning. Kyrgios calmed himself holding to level after eight games.
Wawrinka answered with a love hold for 5-4 as Kyrgios carefully placed himself in his court-side director's chair for a consultations with the trainer.
Lying flat on his back, Kyrgios covered his eyes with his hands as the trainer worked on his left hip.
Brain-cramps caused Kyrgios to gift the break and the second set.
Serving at 5-6, Kyrgios was up 40-15 when indulged his showmanship fixation trying a tweener that failed then netting a casual forehand drop shot to face set point.
"That's a ridiculous shot to even try and Kyrgios almost made it," Tennis Channel analyst Chanda Rubin said.
Trying to surprise the Swiss wild card with a serve-and-volley on a second serve, Kyrgios paid the price. Wawrinka bolted a backhand return pass breaking to force a final set as Vekic, wearing a New York Yankees cap, cheered his revival seated next to coach Magnus Norman.
The three-time Grand Slam champion dug in and denied a pair of break points holding for 2-1.
Tested at deuce in the eighth game, Kyrgios cranked a pair of crackling serves holding to level, 4-all.
A two-ace game helped Kyrgios power through a love hold for five-all.
It was a different story when the Aussie stepped up to force a final-set tie break.
Unsettled by the depth of Wawrinka's returns, Kyrgios netted a forehand off his back foot, poked a casual forehand volley wide then scattered another error facing double match point.
Rocketing his 26th ace, Kyrgios erased the first. On the second match point, Kyrgios again tried to catch Wawrinka off guard with the serve-and-volley and again paid the price absolutely butchering a backhand drop volley attempt that didn't even reach net.
Rewarded for his resilience, Wawrinka closed in two hours, two minutes advancing to a second-round meeting with Marton Fucsovics with the winner taking on either Rafael Nadal or Benoit Paire.