2020 Australian Open...ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

[don_budge]

Nick gets through 5th set tiebreaker. 4 hour plus match. The Nadal match should be something.

What did I tell you..."He will have his hands full and being the head case that he is...".

Just kept his head in the game just enough to eek that one out. He doesn't mind walking on that tight rope...just teetering on the brink. Relying solely on his serve 99% of the time and then he counts on doing something superlative in the tie-breaker. He's an odd ball. I watched most of the match. But it is really unbearably boring much of the time. Two big guys just slugging it out from the backcourt. But Nick does have game in the forecourt and he can make the other guy play there with the drop shots and the angles.

Pencil him in for a showdown with Nadal. The Australian crowd will really have a hoot with this one. Hopefully Nick shows up to play...to win. The tournament needs this match to be big. Without a big showing it might turn out to be a snoozer.

[stroke]

We know one thing for sure. Nadal will come to compete ha.

[nytennisaddict]

Nick gets through 5th set tiebreaker. 4 hour plus match. The Nadal match should be something.

as much as i love nadal, i'd prefer to see nk get through nadal and take a shot at winning his home slam.

[stroke]

Fed looking very good and is probably the biggest favorite out there in next up match vs Sangren. Novak of course favorite vs Milos but we all know how good Milos' serve is. Cannot really see Monfils getting through Thiem. Alex has gotten it together somewhat but I would pick Rublev in that match. Stan and Medvedev a very interesting match up. And of course the blockbuster, Nick vs Nadal. I hope Nick digs all in and gives himself his best chance to see what happens.

[don_budge]

Match of the Day...Nick Kyrgios vs. Rafael Nadal

Fed looking very good and is probably the biggest favorite out there in next up match vs Sangren. Novak of course favorite vs Milos but we all know how good Milos' serve is. Cannot really see Monfils getting through Thiem. Alex has gotten it together somewhat but I would pick Rublev in that match. Stan and Medvedev a very interesting match up. And of course the blockbuster, Nick vs Nadal. I hope Nick digs all in and gives himself his best chance to see what happens.

Epic moment for Nick Kyrgios. How will he react? Is he afraid to succeed? Is he afraid to do his best fearing it will not be enough? Roger Federer talked about "the demons...the demons" in his post match interview after defeating Aussie John Millman. When he was behind in the tie-breaker he was planning his loser's speech. But he put the demons behind him. It's quite a trick...you know. Nick has his share of demons but he seems to control them against Roger and Rafael. The show starts at 9 AM here in Sweden. That would be 3 AM EST. I recommend you get up and take a look at some point.

Wawrinka vs. Medvedev and Zverev vs. Rublev should be interesting stuff but it will pale in comparison. On paper at least. Nick is a bonafide head case but you never know with him. Best of five...he has to go out there and just drain the life out of Nadal.

How about the Roger Federer? He played with his C+ game against Millman and just barely eeked it out. But against the hapless Fucsovac's he was flawless. He weathered the first set then found the rhythm and then never looked back. Next up the #100 player in the world...Tennys Sandgren. If he gets off the court quickly then he prepares for an epic semi where he will be the definite underdog...in the event that Novak Djokovic gets through Milos Raonic.

[don_budge]

Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka both through to the quarterfinals. You know what that means don't you? Two one-hand backhands over the two-hand variety. Almost sorry to see Medvedev go as he might be a better bet against Nadal if he gets by Kyrgios. But think about this...what if these two should meet in the semis? Drama anyone?

[stroke]

Nadal completely engaged early, could not be more intense. Nick certainly has his full attention, which may not be a good thing for Nick. Nadal will probably be in this mode for the next 3 to 4 hours ha. Thiem no surprise at all over Monfils. Stan over Medvedev, a slight surprise I suppose, but Stan's whole game is certainly easier on the eye than Medvedev's. I think almost anyone who loves tennis would way rather have Stan's strokes than Medvedev's.

[stroke]

Nadal wins 1st set. Nick up a break in 2nd, and he is competing on all points, including his return games. As we all know, he has the game to do it on this stage. We will see.

[don_budge]

Nadal completely engaged early, could not be more intense. Nick certainly has his full attention, which may not be a good thing for Nick. Nadal will probably be in this mode for the next 3 to 4 hours ha.

A break of serve for our head case Boy...it almost appears that he is in Nadal's head a bit. Nick is grunting after he has hit the ball...perhaps a bit of gamesmanship to offset the plethora of things Nadal does in the course of a match to get into his opponent's head. To irritate them. To take control of the rhythm. More power to him if it works...Kyrgios that is. It is about time someone stood up to this bully. But the fear is that Kyrgios will mistake this for a winning strategy. It will be the tennis and only the tennis that will defeat Nadal.

[don_budge]

Nadal wins 1st set. Nick up a break in 2nd, and he is competing on all points, including his return games. As we all know, he has the game to do it on this stage. We will see.

He FOLLOWED THROUGH on his break of serve and there is an absence of the "too cool for school". Nose to the grindstone. He needs to keep it there as Nadal is going to steel himself for the ensuing battle. Interestingly though...Kyrgios is actually beating him. Tactically speaking. Let's see now.

[stroke]

Nick wins 2nd set and he deserved it. He served great and stayed engaged in rallies. Long way to go. Quite the test here for Nick. Nadal looks strong to me. None of the looking a bit older to me going on right now. He looks like the favorite for the FO, which he is.

[stroke]

Quite the 3rd set. Nick is totally engaged and playing well enough to get some uncharacteristic errors from Nadal. Nadal of course does not look discouraged.

[stroke]

Nadal wins 3rd set tiebreaker 8-6. It was the best set of tennis I think I have seen from Nick. And Nick knows he gave it his all and did not get it. As db might say, now Nick has to deal with knowing that and get past it. A very tough ask for Nick.

[stroke]

Another reminder that no players coming up are as good as the 3 great ones.

[don_budge]

The Curious Case of Nick Kyrgios...The Forehand and The Conditioning

Nick gave it his all. Or so he thinks. But much of the battle is in the preparation and his preparation falls woefully short against a player like Rafael Nadal who isn't going to go away just because you ask him to. Or because you are imitating some of his obnoxious gamesmanship.

So many times Nick Kyrgios advanced to the net only to see Nadal reverse the advantage because the approach shots were just too damn short with too much spin. The approach shots were landing at the service line or just beyond laden with heavy topspin which only served to place the ball right in the wheelhouse of Nadal. Secondly...the five set match against the Russian the other night took the legs out from Nick and I would bet that Kyrgios was short on his conditioning that best of five sets is all about. Federer was in a similar predicament the other day but luckily for him he was facing Marton Fucsovics and not Nadal. He managed to get his legs back under him after a tentative first set.

Even on backcourt exchanges Kyrgios was landing the ball way to short. There has been discussion on the strength of his grip...how far towards western it is. This sort of grip is not conducive to making good approaches nor is a good way to achieve good depth by flattening the ball out particularly when a player is getting tired or when he is trying to get something extra on the ball.

As much as I wanted to see him beat Nadal there wasn't much hope after he lost that tie-breaker. What was up with that attempt at an ace on a second serve at 6 all in the breaker. A very poor decision at best. Stupid at worst. But Nick was getting tired and he was only on fumes and the inspiration of the pro Aussie crowd at that point. A desperate measure when a calculated decision was needed. Nick just could not get enough flatness on the ball to move Nadal over from his perch on the backhand side of the court. Nick could not hurt him the way Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have figured out. Nadal looks pretty good to the finals now unless Wawrinka can figure out a way to neutralise the forehand. Stan looked really solid in certain stretches and he was strong going down the last stretch. He's going to need it and he might have something left in the bag for Nadal.

I would assess Nick's weakness to be an over reliance on topspin and on his serve ironically. By not putting enough pressure on the opponents serve he put that much more on his own.