Nick Kyrgios loses cool, wins match

Nick Kyrgios is coming off a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon, and big things are expected.

Even before 11 on Monday morning the aficionados had practically filled the 2,800-seat jewel of a showcourt, No. 17.

At three minutes past the hour, Nick Kyrgios, the Australian teenager, sauntered out, wearing fluorescent pinkish headphones — to match his shirt and shoelaces.

It was shrewd planning by those astute fans, for on a hot day at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Kyrgios proved to be even hotter — for better and for worse. Three hours and three minutes later, he knocked the first seeded man out of the tournament, No. 21 Mikhail Youzhny, 7-5, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (1).

Kyrgios, who was overly emotional at times, was called for three code violations, one shy of default.

“I have to know I’m still young and it’s a long journey,” Kyrgios said later. “I have to just be patient. I think it’s good to have high expectations as well.”

Kyrios, of course, took out then-No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round at Wimbledon. The 19-year-old won the Challenger at Nottingham, accepted a wild card from the All England Club and then announced himself with that ridiculously nonchalant between-the-legs shot that left Rafa looking stunned.

It was not a textbook “clean” match, with Kyrgios hitting 26 aces and 68 winners — leavened by 57 unforced errors. Youzhny, who looked all of his 32 years afterward, actually won one more point, 157 to 156.

Kyrgios, who withdrew from Cincinnati with a left arm injury, said he’s going to have to learn to push through the pain. And to think last year he qualified his way into the main draw here.

“Yeah, it’s all happened so fast,” he said. “It sort of hasn’t sunk in. It sunk in a little bit, but I’m still pretty amazed how fast it all happened.”

He’s one of only five teenagers in the men’s main draw and he’s so young that, when asked for his favorite US Open memory growing up, said he didn’t have one.

“I watched Federer-Hewitt [the 2004 final] this morning,” Kyrgios said. “That’s probably the only one I can remember right now.”

source: espn.go.com