‘I was hanging by a thread’ – Nick Kyrgios ‘survives absolute war’
Nick Kyrgios feels lucky to have come through his second round match the way he did after spirited resistance from Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
Heading into the evening on Louis Armstrong Stadium, Kyrgios had to stay focused to pull off 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over the world number 50.
The Wimbledon finalist was thoroughly impressed and even surprised by the level of his opponent, counting himself lucky to come out with the win.
“I was literally hanging by a thread,” Kyrgios said in his post-match interview. “His level today was incredible, honestly I was not expecting an absolute war.” Kyrgios explained more in his press conference soon after.
“Well, I wasn’t going out there expecting him to not be good or something,” he began. “But his level was really, really good. I was really fortunate to get through in four sets. I was down 4-All, 0-40 in the fourth, I played some really low-percentage tennis to get out of that game. It was one of those matches where you kind of survive.”
Kyrgios claimed his 200th career victory at tour level by beating friend Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round, and is now into the third round of the US Open for the fifth time in his career.
Surprisingly, that equals his best ever result, having never made it to the second week in New York. The Australian will have to come through JJ Wolf to get there for the first time, with the 87th ranked American likely to present tough opposition.
“He’s got a massive game,” Kyrgios added in his presser. “I love the way he plays tennis. I love the fact that he has a big serve, tries to take it to the opposition. Serves big and plays big. He’s a great guy as well.
“With a game like that, he’s going to have some great results. Obviously he seems like a hard worker, as well. Just happy to be here. Every time I see him, he has a smile on his face. I’m expecting an incredibly hard match.”
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