He broke Dimitrov three out of four times.
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TA powerbrokers, including chief executive Craig Tiley – Tomic’s prime target in his venomous post-match spray after losing to Novak Djokovic at the All England Club – were locked in crisis talks late on Friday night.
He added: “I’m focusing, but at the same time I’m having fun”.
Their clash might have been perceived as a sharp contrast to the Centre Court purists’ paradise of Gasquet versus Dimitrov.
NICK KYRGIOS: I like it. What kind of question is that? “That’s just how it is”. “I thought he was key in the match”. I think it’s important. I created a lot of chances.
“I like to watch entertaining tennis”, Kyrgios said.
Kyrgios’ first serves were faster too and baffling for Raonic, who was simply unable to read them, which meant not getting there, not returning. The first three sets were incredibly close. This is the second time the two will play on grass.
However, Kyrgios shot right back and received the valuable break to win the second set. However, he used this aggressiveness to his advantage to hit nine aces and eighteen winners.
The aces count continued to rise as both players continued to comfortably hold to force a tie-break in the third set. Raonic had 62 total winners, one more than Kyrgios, but the Australian had only 13 unforced errors, compared to 21 for the Canadian.
“I didn’t want to lose again, I lost to him twice at Grand Slams”.
“I feel you should express yourself – it’s a sport”.
“They told me to turn it around, so I turned it around”. And by the fourth Kyrgios was in complete control. He will next play Richard Gasquet of France. I still have a few discomfort in my foot, so compensation and stuff like this just make any pain pretty much come up. You know, I was not going to play. He’s a magician from back there.
“I’m going to go down there and play for the respect of Davis Cup, for the respect of the Australian public, for myself and mainly for the respect of (retiring champion) Lleyton (Hewitt) and the team. I’m going to work on the court, get myself recovered and ready for a challenge that is presented in the second week”. The 20-year-old Australian, who is ranked 29th in the world, would chat with ball boys and girls, shout to various Aussie fans, and at one point backed so far up in anticipation of a Raonic serve that he was nearly in the lap of a line judge. He has a big forehand. “He’s a tough opponent because he has such a great serve”, Gasquet said. And to return him on grass, it’s very difficult.
Consequently the Court One battle will resume on Saturday afternoon, second on the same court, after the women’s singles match between Caroline Wozniacki and Camila Giorgi.
He says it was not easy to break players like Bernard but he had played quite well. He rolled his shoulders, rolled his eyes and played with reckless indifference, netting an elementary half volley by executing the shot between his legs.
“It was a good match against Marcos”, he told the press. “How I pulled through, I really don’t know”. Asked if she was any good at the Italian game, Sharapova responded: “Terrible”.
French Open champion Stan Wawrinka is currently breezing through Wimbledon.
The fourth-seeded Wawrinka won 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in less than two hours on Court 1. He feeds off distraction and it seems to make him better; others would perish in a mess of shattered concentration. Start to feel more comfortable for moving and in defense also.
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“Today was a really solid match”. Wawrinka served it out, 6-3.
