Kyrgios Breezes Into Marseille Final
Kyrgios Breezes Into Marseille Final
Aussie sees off Berdych
Nick Kyrgios was perfect on serve en route to a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence on Saturday. The powerful Aussie struck 15 aces, won 93 per cent of first serve points and did not face a break point in the 70-minute victory.
In advancing to his second ATP World Tour final (Estoril 2015, l. to Gasquet), Kyrgios improved to 6-1 on the season and avenged his Australian Open loss to Berdych. The 20 year old has now recorded consecutive wins over players in the Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings after defeating Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals.
Kyrgios’ final opponent will be Marin Cilic. The Croat, playing in Marseille for the first time in five years, fired 22 aces to defeat Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3. The World No. 12 will be shooting for a 15th ATP World Tour final, and first since defeating Roberto Bautista Agut in the Moscow final last year.
Cilic only dropped serve once in the two-hour match and evened his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Paire in their second tour-level meeting. He improved to 7-2 in Marseille and is 1-0 against Kyrgios in tour-level meetings (2013 Roland Garros).