Nick Kyrgios roadshow rumbles on in Montreal as he takes out ‘good friend and hell of a player’ Alex de Minaur

ATP Tour
Nick Kyrgios plays a shot

Nick Kyrgios followed up his victory over world No 1 Daniil Medvedev with an emphatic win over fellow Australian and friend Alex de Minaur in the third round at the Canadian Open, but he admitted his latest success was “tough mentally”.

World No 37 Kyrgios is in the form of his life as he finished runner-up at Wimbledon, won the Citi Open last week and is now into the quarter-final of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal.

The 27-year-old was always in control of the match as he dominated from start to finish to secure a 6-2, 6-3 victory over his compatriot in just over an hour to improve his record to 21-3 since the beginning of June.

Kyrgios blew the world No 21 away in the first set as he raced into a 4-0 lead with back-to-back breaks. He eventually served it out having lost only three points on his own serve in the 23-minute opening set.

He also started the second set with a break, but this time De Minaur hit back straightaway only for Kyrgios to break again for a 2-1 lead.

After a couple of solid service games from both, Kyrgios claimed a third break to lead 5-2 and serve for the set. De Minaur, though, made him wait as he claimed one break back, but the Wimbledon runner-up got the job done next game with a break to love.

“Incredibly tough after yesterday’s big high, playing Daniil, and the crowd was amazing. It was a day I’ll probably never, ever forget,” Kyrgios, whose will now be seeded for the US Open as he is set to move up to No 27 in the ATP Rankings after his latest impressive run.

“Today was really hard mentally for me to go out here and play Alex. We’re such good friends and he’s been having such a good career so far and carrying the Australian flag for so long. It was just tough mentally. It’s never easy to play a player like that, especially if they’re Australian.

“I just got out here and got the job done. I played the way I had to play. He’s a hell of a player. If you play to his strengths, he’s one of the best players we have in the game and he’s so fast. He’s going to have a hell of a career.”

Nick Kyrgios: ‘If I was up against anyone else but Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon final, I would have won’

Up next is Hubert Hurkacz, one of the three players to beat him in his 21-3 run as the Pole was victorious in the semi-final at Halle. Eighth seed Hurkacz had to battle for his win as he defeated Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).

The winner of that clash will face either fourth seed Casper Ruud or sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. Norwegian Ruud beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 while home hero Auger-Aliassime beat British No 1 Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4.

Alex De Minaur Nick Kyrgios

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