Kyrgios enjoys ‘redemption’ for Shanghai meltdown

BEIJING - Agence France-Presse

Nick Kyrgios said he wanted to make up for his notorious meltdown last year in Shanghai as he beat Mischa Zverev in the second round of the China Open on Oct. 4.

A year ago the supremely talented but combustible Kyrgios was suspended for his petulant behaviour at the Shanghai Masters, where he swore and argued with the crowd and appeared to give away points in caving in to the German.

The enigmatic Australian, seeded eighth on Beijing’s outdoor hard courts this year, smashed his racquet on the floor in anger, bending the head in half, when he conceded the opening set on Oct. 4.

That earned the world number 19 a warning from the umpire and raised the specter of one year ago.

But the 22-year-old returned for the second set with renewed determination and errors began creeping into Zverev’s game.

Zverev, ranked 27 in the world and the older brother of rising star Alexander, surrendered his first service game of the second set and Kyrgios was never in trouble after that, surging into the next round 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

During one changeover the Australian appeared so relaxed that he sat back on his chair, arms behind his head, and sang along with a pop hit being played over the stadium loudspeakers.

“Nothing really, just chilling out,” Kyrgios, whose suspect temperament sometimes outdoes his talent, said afterwards when asked about his demeanour at times during the match.

Kyrgios said facing Zverev a year after Shanghai, and again in China, was the perfect opportunity to show how far he has come. “Obviously didn’t have a great one last year, obviously got suspended after that,” he said.

“I just wanted to go out there today and kind of redeem myself a little bit from last year,” he said, adding: “I just wanted to prove to myself how much I have improved.”

Kyrgios, one of the most colorful characters in tennis, added: “I knew it was going to be tough and I got broken early in the first.