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Nick Kyrgios was at his ruthless best on Friday evening at the Western & Southern Open, blasting past Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-5 to secure a spot in the semi-finals. It was the 100th tour-level victory for the Aussie.
Kyrgios dominated from start to finish in his second match of day, reaching his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final of the year (Miami) and first in Cincinnati. Less than seven hours after rallying past Ivo Karlovic 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 in their rain-delayed third round affair, he needed just 80 minutes to thwart the soon to be World No. 1.
"Being a little kid playing on centre court of Cincinnati against Nadal, that's the way the best has to come out," said Kyrgios.

The victory was even more impressive considering the contrast in styles between opponents, with Kyrgios overcoming the big-serving Karlovic and more baseline oriented game of Nadal. With the Spaniard eliminated, it marks the first time since Paris 2012 that no member of the Big Four of Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are in the semis of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. That's 42 straight Masters 1000 tournaments.

Kyrgios exploded out of the gates on a beautiful Friday evening at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The Aussie landed punch after punch, utilising his great agility and aggressive gameplan to deliver a fiery statement.
Kyrgios would claim 10 of the first 11 points, seizing an immediate break in Nadal's opening service game and chasing down a drop shot for an insurance break for 3-0. The 22 year old won seven of eight points on Nadal's second serve in the set, rifling return winners with aplomb. He'd take the opener after just 25 minutes, claiming all five points lasting over five shots.

The second set featured much of the same, as Kyrgios fought off a break point and claimed an early advantage with a break for 3-2. Nadal would not go down quietly, however, fighting off a pair of match points while serving at 5-3 and one more with Kyrgios serving for the match at 5-4. He would break for 5-all, but the Aussie responded in kind in the next game. He would break right back following an error-strewn service game from Nadal and successfully served out the win with his 10th ace of the match.
"He obviously is a tough match always," said Nadal. "Nick is a great player, but I played poorly. I started the match well and then I played a very bad game in the second set when he broke me. I played some good points. He had some mistakes and I was able to be back in the match. And then I played a terrible game. So it was a bad match for me. Congrats to him. That's it.
"I love this tournament so much. It is improving every year. But I don't know why I don't find my rhythm here. It is tough for me to compete well here. But I'm going to keep trying next year."
With top seed Nadal out, it marks the first time since 2006 that no Top 5 seeds will feature in the Cincinnati semi-finals.
Kyrgios will face David Ferrer in Saturday's semi-finals. Ferrer took their lone previous encounter in the first round of the 2013 US Open. Seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov battles 14th seed John Isner in the other semi-final.
"I'm not even looking ahead," Kyrgios added. "Obviously tomorrow against Ferrer, it's going to be a tough battle. He's a great competitor. I don't even know how long he's been on tour for. Looks like he's trying to find his range again. Looks like he's playing much better now than he was last year.
"I know that he's feeling confident. To beat Dominic in straight sets. He's beat guys like Jack Sock the last couple of weeks, as well. He's playing good tennis against good players. I know it's going to be tough."

Aussie reaches his first Masters 1000 final

Nick Kyrgios can hardly believe the turnaround himself.
Three weeks ago, the Aussie was down 6-3, 3-0 against Tennys Sandgren of the U.S. before having to retire from his second-round match at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. because of right shoulder pain.
On Sunday, Kyrgios played in his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
“Looking back from where I was... I would have never thought I would have had my first Masters 1000 event final. So I'm pretty happy with the result. From where I was to here, it's just been amazing,” Kyrgios said.
The Aussie fell short in his maiden Masters 1000 title match, losing to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 6-3. But the 22-year-old Kyrgios was pleased with his mindset and his tennis this week.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Dimitrov Beats Kyrgios For Maiden Masters 1000 Title
Kyrgios reached the final by beating ninth seed David Goffin, Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and two legendary Spaniards – incoming-World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and 2014 finalist David Ferrer.
“I had some fun this week. First round was really a struggle and obviously got through a tough one with Dolgopolov. Gradually, I just feel back to where I should feel on a tennis court. I wasn't enjoying it at all, didn't want to be out there. External things were affecting how I was feeling. It really didn't make sense,” Kyrgios said. “Right now, I lost today but I feel great. I feel great where I'm at right now.”
He had kind words for Sunday's victor, Dimitrov, who was also playing in his first Masters 1000 final and won his third title of the season.
“It couldn't have gone to a more deserving player. He's really got his game back on track. I think he's starting to be where I think I pictured him being,” Kyrgios said. “He struggled a year ago with his game, but now he's playing some really good tennis.”
Kyrgios will next head to Kansas to train with Jack Sock of the U.S. After that, he'll try to improve upon his third-round showing at last year's US Open (l. to Marchenko).
“I'm feeling good. I'm pretty excited for the US Open. I'm just happy, being out there and getting some wins again,” Kyrgios said.

With the US Open set to begin in a week, a recurring question has bobbed to the surface in the wake of Nick Kyrgios belting his way to the Cincinnati Masters 1000 final. Is it time once again to expect a breakthrough from the talented Aussie?

A skeptic might scoff at the idea and reply with the old saw, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." But the recent success of generational peers led by sensational Alexander Zverev, 20, may light a fire under Kyrgios.

"I've just been going through a load of stuff [lately] that has distracted me from just trying to play some tennis, and hopefully I'm just trying to get on the right track again," Kyrgios told reporters in Cincinnati. "I'm starting to, slowly."
Nick Kyrgios reached his first career Masters 1000 final Sunday at Cincinnati. EPA/TANNEN MAURY

The controversial Kyrgios might have to speed it up a little bit.

He is just 22 and has long been hailed as the most talented of the emerging players expected to supplant the Big Four as they age out of the game. But Kyrgios is complicated, with a seemingly bottomless capacity to disappoint and fall back on self-justifications and excuses as creative as his shot-making.

In fairness, the explosive, whippet-lean right-hander with the howitzer serve has had more injuries than a player of his age and physique ought. Those include recent nagging hip and shoulder injuries. He's also had some rotten luck.

Kyrgios was booed off the court by his fellow countrymen following his second-round loss to Andreas Seppi in the Australian Open early this year, but then went on a tear. Kyrgios made the semis at Marseilles, then upset top seed Novak Djokovic on his way to the semis in Acapulco.

At Indian Wells soon thereafter, Kyrgios had back-to-back wins over Zverev and Djokovic, but food poisoning forced him to issue a quarterfinal walkover to Roger Federer. Just weeks later in the Miami semis, he dueled Federer through three tiebreaker sets but lost.

As the clay season began, Kyrgios withdrew from the Estoril tournament to attend the funeral of his beloved grandfather, Christos Kyrgios. He neglected his training and had indifferent results when he returned to the tour following the funeral. Kyrgios played a desultory second-round match against Kevin Anderson at the French Open, and later told reporters: "After my grandpa passing, I just lost a lot of motivation to do anything, really."

Kyrgios wrote "74 + 89 R.I.P." in tribute to his deceased grandparents after he overwhelmed David Ferrer in the Cincinnati semifinals, later telling reporters: "I have been pretty crazy ever since she left. They were unbelievable support. It was tough. I can't really talk about it too much."

The owner of just three tour-level titles, Kyrgios retired during matches in his next three tournaments (London; Wimbledon; Washington, D.C.). He only began to navigate past the "distractions," injury and emotional turbulence over the past two weeks.

His confession of emotional vulnerability was touching and understandable, but the reality is that Kyrgios' mercurial history is littered with red flags. His unfocused, listless performances in some big matches have mortified even his supporters. He's had injuries, but he's repeatedly professed indifference to his profession and its requirements, declaring he'd rather be an NBA player.

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Kyrgios loses, eyes US Open with confidence

Nick Kyrgios lost the Cincinnati Masters final to Grigor Dimitrov but will contest the US Open on the back of a near career-best week.

At the French Open, Kyrgios said he doesn't like to practice on red clay back at home in Canberra because "it gets my car dirty." He may wear his sensitivity on his clay-free sleeve, but he's launched ugly controversies and confrontations.

Still, Kyrgios has the degree of talent that successfully extorts forgiveness from people who cherish the game and the kind of rare talent he possesses. Asking people to give him more time to mature, and to issue him a pass on numerous shortcomings is a humming cottage industry. Old-school Aussie stalwarts like Kyrgios' Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt and Rod Laver have refused to spurn him. At the worst of times, even they look like enablers who make too many concessions to Kyrgios' incandescent talent -- and overlook some of his cut-and-dried flaws.

On Sunday in Cincinnati, Kyrgios volubly complained about the heat and then wilted at the worst time, surrendering a shockingly easy service break that allowed Dimitrov to serve out what had been a good match up until then with a disappointing lack of drama. Both were first-time Masters finalists, although Dimitrov -- once a dazzling prodigy himself -- is older (26) and ranked nine spots above Kyrgios, at No. 9. It was just the kind of match Kyrgios needs to win in order to avoid becoming, like Dimitrov, the Next Big Thing who has yet to happen.

Kyrgios is an impressive 12-17 against top-10 players since he stunned No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014. He's beaten every member of the Big Four but Andy Murray. Yet he comes up flat in too many big matches and seems to have a healthy appetite for self-destruction.

It's a mystery. It's complicated. It's the story of Kyrgios career thus far. The US Open awaits.
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USTA develops Net Generation program to power future of American tennis
Kids participate in a USTA fan experience at the Seaport District in New York, where the Net Generation program was promoted. Aishwarya Kumar/ESPN.com
Aug 26, 2017

Aishwarya KumarESPN.com

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NEW YORK -- Kayla Day, the 2016 US Open junior champion, was driven daily by her mother two hours each way from her Southern California home in Santa Barbara to the USTA Training Center in Carson. Tommy Paul, a 2017 Citi Open quarterfinalist, had to move from North Carolina to Boca Raton, Florida, to train at a USTA facility when he was just 13. Jennifer Brady, ranked No. 91 in the world, struggled to find people to hit balls with in her hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The travel, expenditures and other sacrifices made by American tennis prospects might be a thing of the past with USTA's new youth initiative, Net Generation. The program will act as the pathway between coaches and trainers and kids ages 5-18 who want to take up the sport.

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Coaches, schools and clubs all over the country will be able to sign up and get approved by USTA after a background check. Parents then will be able to get in touch with the approved clubs, clinics and coaches on the Net Generation website and app and get their kids enrolled in programs. The initiative will also roll out smaller rackets, balls and courts for the younger kids to ensure they understand the basics of tennis with equipment appropriate for their age.

"I am a parent, and for the longest time I didn't know how to get in touch with coaches and trainers for my children, and I am from the tennis world," said Hall of Famer Gigi Fernandez, Net Generation's ambassador, at a fan experience event in New York's Seaport District on Thursday. "This will act as a one-stop place to find talented kids and help them understand tennis is a viable career option."

For the past decade, USTA has worked toward finding potential talent at a young age and assigning them to coaches and trainers to develop their all-around game. This is a step further in the effort to find the next wave of players who will make U.S. a tennis powerhouse, said Net Generation general manager Craig Morris.
Gigi Fernandez, winner of 17 Grand Slam doubles titles, is working to spread the word about the USTA's Net Generation initiative. Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Instead of finding one Claire Liu (this year's Wimbledon junior champion) to develop into a future star, the USTA will now be able to find 50 Claire Lius, one in each state, and hone their skills, Fernandez said.

Up-and-coming players such as Day agreed that being able to stay close to home and train will be invaluable for kids in the future.

"That element takes away so much financial and physical pressure off of you," Day said. "You can focus on tennis, and with the right equipment for your age, learn skills early on and get better quickly."

Noting the transformation of tennis in America in the past two decades, Fernandez said players used to be able to "dabble in the sport and make a decision to go pro even during or after college," but that approach doesn't work anymore. The top players start training at age 8 or 9 now, and by 14 they know if they have it in them to go pro. This means the USTA needs to start targeting talent as young as 7, and Net Generation is a great initiative for that timeline, she said.

When there is direct access to coaches and clinics, kids will be less likely to move from tennis to other sports at age 10 or 11, and they will start looking at tennis as a viable career option.

"When they see more kids playing it, they'll also realize tennis can get them to the top, unlike with soccer and basketball, where most of them stop playing after high school or college," said Fernandez, who, in addition to taking part in USTA's youth initiatives, conducts virtual tennis courses online.

Women's tennis is a step ahead of men's tennis in the U.S. at this point, and Fernandez and Day think there will be an American female Grand Slam champion other than Serena or Venus Williams in the next five years.

"I have my eyes on Madison Keys," Fernandez said. "Lindsay Davenport is training her, and that's going to help her game a lot."

The ultimate dream of Net Generation is to find the next Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, and to help the U.S. stay at the top of the women's tennis world after Venus and Serena Williams are done playing.

"There are more American players in the top 100 now than there've been in the last decade," Fernandez said. "USA is in the Fed Cup final, which they haven't won since 2000, so this is an opportune time to keep the momentum going."
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Nick Kyrgios defeated Mischa Zverev by 3-6 6-2 6-2 to reach China Open quarter-finals in Beijing. It was an entertaining match, which Kyrgios wanted to win so bad. 'Yeah, I played him last year. Obviously didn't have a great one last year.


Obviously got suspended after that. I just wanted to go out there today and kind of redeem myself a little bit from last year. I just wanted to prove to myself how much I have improved. Yeah, I knew it was going to be tough. He plays a very old-school type of tennis, likes to come forward a lot.

I knew it was going to be tough. I got broken early in the first. Then I kind of knew I had to loosen up and find my rhythm a little bit. I started serving much better, started just relaxing. I knew I was going to feel pretty comfortable at some stage out there.

Obviously just really happy to get through.' The between points was almost as interesting as during the points. Skipped the changeover at one point, playing along with the music. What was going through your mind at those points? 'Nothing really.

Just chilling out.' Kyrgios also explained why he took a wild card to play ATP 250 Antwerp, that starts on October 16. 'I played Davis Cup in Brussels a couple weeks ago. It was heartbreaking.

You know, every time I think about it, it makes me pretty sad. I was probably going to go back home possibly after Shanghai. I knew if I went home, I probably wasn't going to come back and play Basel and Paris. I knew I had to do something to keep me going.

Obviously Antwerp, yeah, was nice enough to give me a wild card. I think I'm going to take one. I thought it was a good opportunity to go there and play, hopefully just keep in the mode of tournament mode, just finish the year strong, hopefully have a good result there.

If I went home, there's no chance I was going to come back. Australia's the best place in the world.' Just about your PlayersVoice piece, have you had a lot of players react to that? Do you feel like a lot of players feel the way you do, love-hate relationship with tennis but not talk about it publicly? 'I don't know.

I don't know if they have the same view as me on tennis. I think a lot of the guys that are playing at the moment on tour love it. They'll definitely do a lot more than I do. I was talking about this the other day. I think if you look at the top 20 or 30, you look at everyone in the top 20 or 30, I'm probably doing 20% of what they're doing, so...

I don't know if they feel the same way.' .

Tenisista Nick Kyrgios zadeklarował, że przekaże 50 dolarów na rzecz osób poszkodowanych przez huragan Maria za każdego posłanego przez niego do końca roku asa serwisowego. Australijczyk w ten sposób zasili zbiórkę pieniędzy organizowaną przez Portorykankę Monicę Puig.
Nick KyrgiosFoto: AFP
Nick Kyrgios
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Poruszona skalą zniszczeń wyrządzonych jej ojczyźnie po przejściu kilkanaście dni temu huraganu Puig rozpoczęła za pośrednictwem jednego z portali gromadzenie środków finansowych dla poszkodowanych. W inicjatywę zapoczątkowaną przez mistrzynię olimpijska z Rio de Janeiro włączył się jej kolega z kortu - Kyrgios.

Słynący z wybuchowego charakteru i kontrowersyjnych zachowań Australijczyk początkowo zaofiarował, że za każdego asa wpłaci 10 USD. Akcja trwa od wtorku, kiedy zanotował w Pekinie 12 punktów bezpośrednio z serwisu. Później podniósł stawkę do 50 dol. W piątek wystąpi w ćwierćfinale. Jego rywalem będzie Belg Steve Darcis.

Puig za cel postawiła sobie zebranie 125 tys. dol. Jak na razie w akcję włączyło się 1681 osób, które wpłaciły 112 187 dol.

Ostateczny bilans ofiar śmiertelnych huraganu w Portoryko wynosi 34 osoby. Jak informowano, jeszcze dwa tygodnie później 93 procent mieszkańców nie miało tam prądu, 55 procent było bez dostępu do wody pitnej, a telefonia komórkowa funkcjonuje tylko na ok. 45 procent powierzchni wyspy.