‘Second Service’ tennis news: Nick Kyrgios overcomes breathing problems in victory, as Djokovic is ready for a new challenge in Astana
Looking back on the big tennis news in our exclusive ‘Second Service’… Nick Kyrgios overcomes breathing problems in victory, as Djokovic is ready for a new challenge in Astana, plus more…
To start, Nick Kyrgios admitted he struggled with breathing difficulties despite his comfortable victory in the first round of the Japan Open.
This problem has already occurred this season with Kyrgios having to withdraw from a warmup match before the Australian Open after struggling with asthma. He also referenced to being rusty at the beginning of the match, having not played since his US Open quarter-final defeat to Karen Khachanov.
”I came out a bit slow, but I don’t play many matches so it’s hard to just get straight back into that competitive flow,” Kyrgios told reporters after the match. ”But as soon as I held the first game I kind of found my form again and played really well.”
In other tennis news, Novak Djokovic is looking forward to a difference in conditions at the Astana Open in comparison to his victory in Tel Aviv last week.
Djokovic, the 21-time Grand Slam champion, returned to winning ways last week with victory in Israel beating Marin Cilic in the final. Now he begins his campaign at the ATP 500 in Kazakhstan against Cristian Garin of Chile and Djokovic is all too aware of the slower pace of the court this week and how it will affect his tactics.
”Tel Aviv was fast, so if you serve well, the ball skids through the court and you get a lot of free points,” said Djokovic in an interview with ATP Media. ”Here, it’s not such a great asset. It’s tough to penetrate the court. You have to use the tactics of clay, constructing the points. It’s going to be much more physical.”
Furthermore, Daniil Medvedev admitted to being ‘a little bit less confident’ despite defeating Alberto Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets in Kazakhstan.
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, defeated the Spaniard Ramos-Vinolas 6-3 6-1 in only 79 minutes to safely book his place in the second round. However, the result in Kazakhstan was a clearly a step in the right direction for the world number four. ”The court is pretty slow. Albert is kind of a slow player [tactically], he likes to put the ball in the court. I felt I didn’t need to force myself to play faster because that could make me miss,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview.
”I was a little bit less confident than in my best tournaments, so I knew I had to start slow and try to get into rhythm. Finally, great match. Hopefully I can raise my level in the next ones.”
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