Nick Kyrgios
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Although he is the bete noire of the tennis circle – and not without reason given his antics, Nick Kyrgios has repeatedly shown his immense skill with the racquet over the past year. With no full-time coach, the 21-year-old last year won the Rakuten Japan Open – his first title, and this year was responsible for ousting World No. 2 and top seed Novak Djokovic from the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, in straight sets.
The Australian was upset in his second round Australian Open match against Italy’s Andreas Seppi, but not after a long fight, and has done well this year since.
At the Open 13 Marseille, Kyrgios managed to take a set off eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before losing, repeating that feat in Acapulco, this time with the eventual title winner Sam Querrey.
Unfortunately, however, his issues with on-court behaviour have also continued well into the year.
Kyrgios has no doubt shown he can hold his own with the best of the best, but the young Australian will need to rein in his temper – and his play, if he is to succeed at Indian Wells.
This time around, Kyrgios is part of the dreaded final quarter – the one that contains Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro – but that may not faze him much; he is one of a few players who have beaten 3 of the Big 4 on debut.
He played Roger Federer for the first – and so far only – time at Madrid last year, beating him in three sets, all of which went to tiebreak, playing Nadal for the first time at Wimbledon in 2014, beating him in four sets, and added Djokovic to that list last week. If anyone could perhaps keep their cool (relatively speaking) through that, it would be Kyrgios.
That by no means denotes he has an easy draw – he could meet Alexander Zverev, like Kyrgios a sensational young talent, in the third round – and that promises to be a big contest. Although it may be an unlikely combination considering the quarter, Kyrgios could well put himself on a collision course against Djokovic in Round 4 – if Djokovic downs Juan Martin Del Potro in Round 3, that is – and either player is likely to be a deadly competitor for the 21-year-old.
He’s also defending few points here, crashing out in Round 2 last year – so he is likely to move up in terms of points.
But given the firepower he possesses and his gutsy shot making of late, we’ll give Nick Kyrgios an outside chance at the title.
