WATCH: ‘Better love story than Twilight’ Nick Kyrgios comes up with an audacious underarm serve in an emphatic win in Houston
Follow Us
Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios has started his Houston Claycourt Championship right from where he left in Miami with two great wins. The Australian defeated seventh seed, Tommy Paul with relative ease as he marched on to the quarterfinals. Kyrgios won the match 6-4, 6-2 against the American as he booked his first quarterfinal berth on clay after four years.
The 26-year-old played some sublime tennis as he outplayed his opponent. However, the highlight of the game became a very well disguised underarm serve from Kyrgios. The serve caught Tommy Paul off guard as his return allowed the Australian to capitalize on the open court as he came up with a winner. The incident happened when Kyrgios was 4-3 up in the first set and was forcing the initiative against the American. He eventually went on to win the set 6-4 and progressed through to the next round.
With the Australian showing great form on clay, social media has once again gone berserk over his underarm serve and how tactfully he uses it perfect. He did come up with a tweener against Mackenzie McDonald and now with an unorthodox serve against another American in the second round.
While some people are very sceptical about the trick shots as some players even have said to Kyrgios in the past to not do these things on the court. Recently he came up with an underarm serve against Fabio Fognini where the Italian was not amused by it as asked him to not repeat the act. Some players even get angry with the Australian for his trick shots which include the subtle underarm serve. However, the fans have embraced this aspect as they feel that the 26-year-old is well within his right to execute trick shots.
Kyrgios has a powerful serve and therefore players expecting a big serve stand way behind the baseline. The Australian uses his big serve as a major weapon in his game. But just to change the course of the play Kyrgios has added some deception in his game to bring up the underarm serve.
‘It is one of the best matches I have played on clay in my career,’ Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios has been great form on tour as he has carried the high spirits from Miami and is now delivering at the ATP Houston. He has already revealed that the Houston Claycourt Championship will be his last and only clay tournament this year as he will take a break before a packed grass court season.
The 26-year-old came out all guns blazing as he played a hard fought match against Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round. It was his first win on clay in almost three years as the Australian came from behind to win an intense three-setter against the American. He then stormed past seventh seed Tommy Paul in straight sets and is looking like one of the contenders to bag the title in Houston.
“I had to be locked in today and I knew that I had to serve well. It’s probably one of the better matches I’ve played on clay in my career, so I’m pretty happy with the way I came out here today, just put my head down and went to work. I’ve been serving really well, so I just wanted to keep to good habits,” the Australian said in his on-court interview after the win.
Kyrgios will now be facing a lucky loser in Michael Mmoh in the fight amongst the last eight.
Stay Updated!
Atrayo Bhattacharya
(193 Articles Published)