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SPORTSSaturday 4 March 2017
Kyrgios stuns Djokovic to reach Mexican Open semifinals
Kyrgios blasted 16 aces in he played against them. Querrey ended Thiem’s
the first set to beat Djokovic The 21-year-old Australian
in his first match against the beat Nadal in Wimbledon seven-match winning
second-best player in the (2014) and Federer in Ma-
world and will play against drid (2015). streak.
American Sam Querrey in Djokovic was playing in
one of the semifinals. his first tournament since “He is a big-serving Ameri-
Spaniard Rafael Nadal will a shocking loss in the sec-
face off against Croatia’s ond round of the Australian can, I played him before,
Marin Cilic in the other. Open.
“It’s a big win,” Kyrgios said. Now Kyrgios could face and I know what to ex-
“I was a little bit nervous be- Nadal in the final if he man-
cause I’m sure the crowd ages to get past an inspired pect,” added Kyrgios.
was rooting for Novak. He’s Querrey, who’s having a
one of the greatest players great week in Mexico. Earlier, Nadal ran his Mexi-
of all time, but I’m playing Querrey reached the semi-
with confidence. My serve finals in Acapulco for the can Open winning streak
is the best part of my game, second year in a row. In
and I had one of my best 2016, he lost to Thiem, but to 13 matches, beating
serving matches tonight.” this time around, the Amer-
Kyrgios, the world’s 17th- ican got the win in just 66 Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka
ranked player, also de- minutes a day after taking
feated Roger Federer and down Belgian David Goffin, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Rafael Nadal the first time 11th in the ATP rankings.
The tournament winner
in 2005 and 2013, Nadal
needed almost two hours
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios reacts after winning a point against Ser- to finish off Nishioka. The
bia’s Novak Djokovic during a quarterfinal match of the Mexi-
can Tennis Open in Acapulco, Mexico, Thursday March 2, 2017. 30-year-old Spanish star
Associated Press overcame a 4-2 deficit in
the first set and got out of
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) vak Djokovic 7-6 (9), 7-5 an 0-2 hole in the second.
— Australia’s Nick Kyrgios early Friday morning and
used a barrage of 25 aces reach the semifinals of the “Every game here is spe-
to defeat top-seeded No- Mexican Open.
cial. I did not play my best
tennis, but that’s why it
has a merit,” Nadal said. “I
played great the previous
rounds and today I was
able to get over a tough
situation. I’m happy to be
in the semifinals. That’s
great news.”
Nadal will face third-seed-
ed Marin Cilic of Croa-
tia. Cilic advanced when
American Steve Johnson
withdrew because of a
right ankle injury.
Nadal is playing in his first
tournament since losing to
Federer in the Australian
Open final. The Spaniard
leads the series against
Cilic 3-1, but they haven’t
played since the Basel
quarterfinals in 2015, when
Nadal won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
“He’s one of the toughest
rivals in the world, he has
a great serve and is very
aggressive,” Nadal said. “I
will have to play so much
better than today if I want
to have a shot. It’s a big
match. I hope to be pre-
pared for it.”
Johnson was injured in his
match against his fellow
countryman Ernesto Esc-
obedo late Wednesday.q
