“We’re going to see what’s happening,” Rafael Nadal said after his first match on Friday, a 7-6 (1), 6-2 win over Albert-Ramos Vinolas, when he was asked about the prospects for this second one, against Nick Kyrgios. The implication from Nadal was: I have no idea how I’m going to play.
It took about three minutes for Rafa and the rest of to find out. Nadal began by missing a series of routine crosscourt forehands long and was broken. The trend continued in the second game, and Kyrgios held at love. By the third game, the malady had spread to Nadal’s backhand, which began to sail long, and he was broken again. All in all, Rafa lost 16 of the first 19 points and committed 10 unforced errors in the first three games. Even when he was able to guess which way Kyrgios was going on his serve, he wasn’t able to make clean contact on it.
This was all that Kyrgios could have asked for, and all that he needed; he is, if nothing else, a galloping frontrunner. He’s also a strong competitor when he has something to gain from a victory; witness his two wins over Novak Djokovic this season, and his near-win over Roger Federer in Miami.
Kyrgios was as on as Nadal was off on Friday. He pumped in 140-m.p.h. serves when he needed them. On his crosscourt forehand, he flicked the ball high and with heavy topspin, pushing Rafa back on his backhand side. On his own backhand, Kyrgios neutralized Nadal’s forehand, and directed the ball down the line and into the open court numerous times.
But Kyrgios had his fun, too. He threw in a trademark front-facing tweener, and even tried his version of the Federer SABR, charging forward on a Nadal second serve and blocking it away for a perfectly measured winner.
Kyrgios was flawless, and Nadal was helpless, until the Australian reached match point at 5-4 in the second. There Kyrgios double-faulted, and Nadal seized his one opportunity to break. Nadal let loose with his first fist-pump of the night, the crowd rose to its feet, and then...Rafa missed three straight forehands and was broken again. A few minutes later, Kyrgios closed out the 6-2, 7-5 win with an ace.
Afterward, Nadal said that switching from day tennis to night tennis so quickly, and trying to control the ball, hadn’t been easy. Since the French Open, he has suffered three defeats that have left him frustrated—to Gilles Muller at Wimbledon, to Denis Shapovalov in Montreal, and now, in unexpectedly dismal fashion, to Kyrgios. It was enough to lead Nadal, who will take over the top ranking on Monday, to put a little uncharacteristic pressure on himself coming into the US Open: “In the last, most important event of the season,” he said, “I have to show why I am at No. 1.”
Kyrgios, meanwhile, has shown that he’s a threat again at that last, most important event.
“It’s easier to bring out your best playing in a full stadium versus great players,” he said.
Nobody doubts that Kyrgios can beat any of the great players at the Open; the question may be whether he can play this well against the ones who aren’t as great.
