ATP Tournament in Houston, Round of 16, Wednesday, 06.04.2022
The French Open is already casting its shadow ahead! Before the famous red clay of Roland Garros comes into focus, some stars want to get used to the new surface in Houston.
Top favourite of the tournament: One who has just broken back into the top 100 and now faces a strong American.
For years, anyone analysing Nick Kyrgios’ performances must not make one mistake: Paying attention to the world rankings. Rank 94, and only because he has two strong tournaments behind him – that does not reflect his performances at all.
If Kyrgios wants to play, everything goes well – if he doesn’t want to, he is eliminated early. In Indian Wells and Miami he was in great form, outclassed some top opponents. In the end, however, he was defeated not only by Jannik Sinner, but also by his own nerves.
Kyrgios loves the big stage, but can he do it in Houston, where there are fewer spotlights on him? He already had slight problems in his 1st round match, losing the first set 4-6 to Mackenzie McDonald.
But the 26-year-old fought his way back, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the end. 18 aces and 91% won points on first serve, these stats were world class. However, Kyrgios only managed to convert two of his eleven break chances.
The win was still special in the end because: It was the first on clay in three years! The red clay is not really his surface, but he did a very good job. Only the ATP tournament in Houston is on his schedule in the clay season.
Four years ago, at his first and so far only participation in Houston, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Against Tommy Paul, whom he will now meet for the first time, it should not be the end of the line yet.
The German tennis fans will remember well how he won against Alexander Zverev in Indian Wells. He also served strongly in Miami, winning against Karen Khachanov and then narrowly losing 6-7, 4-6 to Taylor Fritz.
Since things have been going so well for the 24-year-old recently, he had quite a struggle in his first round in Houston. He faced Peter Gojowczyk, the only German representative.
The two played a close match. Each won a tiebreak before Paul led 3-2 in the third set. However, the match was not finished because Gojowczyk had to retire injured.
Nevertheless, this match must have cost Paul a lot of energy…
My Kyrgios Paul Tip
Everything is a little different on clay, not every player manages to take top form off the hard court. Nick Kyrgios, who is not too fond of the surface, has done quite well for it.
After his first win on clay since 2018, he is finally looking to win another tournament.
After seeing the first two matches, I don’t expect Kyrgios and Paul to give each other anything on Wednesday, so I’m guessing:
We see more than 21.5 matches!
