An argumentative Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday hammered 24 aces in a dominating service display to defeat Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in the second round of the Citi Open in Washington.
The 24-year-old Australian offered his critique of the chair umpire’s performance before match point and continued to provide his thoughts following the end of the match on a hot and humid night.
Kyrgios is next to face Yoshihito Nishioka, the 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) winner over seventh seed David Goffin under the lights.
Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was tested in his first match of the tournament by Tommy Paul, but held on to dispatch the American 6-3, 7-5.
The 20-year-old Greek praised the 22-year-old Paul’s performance after their entertaining first career meeting.
“He played very aggressive tennis and was more unpredictable than players I have faced in the past,” he said. “He didn’t give me much room to execute my game, but I got through it by finding different solutions.”
Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime topped big-serving American Reilly Opelka to reach the round of 16 in his first main draw appearance at the tournament thanks to his stout defense.
The road gets no easier for the 18-year-old sensation as he next faces sixth seed Marin Cilic.
Rising Australian Jordan Thompson, top-ranked American John Isner and hard-hitting Canadian Milos Raonic also won their second-round matches.
On the women’s side, Kristina Mladenovic held on to defeat 17-year-old American Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in a hard-fought evening match to make the third round.
Baptiste had more power than Mladenovic, but the Frenchwoman was the better player in the match’s biggest points, converting four of her nine break-point opportunities while saving seven of her own.
Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya and Americans Lauren Davis and Jessica Pegula also advanced.
SILICON VALLEY CLASSIC
Top seed Elina Svitolina on Wednesday crushed Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-1 as second seed Aryna Sabalenka put an end to Coco Vandeweghe’s comeback bid with a 6-3, 6-3 win in second-round action at the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, California.
Svitolina’s superior serving was the difference in the one-sided match as the Ukrainian set up a tantalizing quarter-final meeting with Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
Sakkari fired nine aces en route to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over promising young Japanese player Mayo Hibi and is to be looking for revenge when she faces Svitolina, who defeated her in three sets at Wimbledon last month.
In the night session, veteran Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro battled back to defeat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to punch her ticket to the quarter-finals of the WTA Premier tournament.
In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and her Chinese partner You Xiaodi crashed 0-6, 3-6 to US duo Caty McNally and Cori Gauff in the quarter-finals.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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