Nick Kyrgios will need to overcome not only mental demons, but a much tougher opponent in the third round at Wimbledon when he takes on Kei Nishikori. Join The Roar for live scores from around 3:30am (AEST).
The Australian has only dropped the single set across the first two rounds, but the concentration and personal issues which have affected his career so far threatened to blow up during the second round.
There were some tense moments against Robin Haase. After getting past Denis Istomin in four sets during the first round, he really had to work hard against Haase, but eventually got a break of serve back for the third time to close out the match in the best way possible.
His serve has been the key weapon throughout what has been a strong grass court season, returning from injury after missing most of the time between the Aussie summer and now.
He had to pull the pin on the French Open, but the elbow seems to be working for him again and it’s shown in his serve speeds across the first two rounds where he has had nearly 60 combined aces.
Nishikori has also battled with injury throughout 2018. He had to come back through the US challenger circuit before the clay court season got underway, but he has plenty of matches under his belt after managing to stay fit through that.
The Japanese seed only played one lead-up tournament on the grass courts, bombing out in the second round at Halle.
He has struggled to maintain any dominance at Wimbledon either. While Nishikori picked up a pair of four-set victories, he has shown signs of vulnerability in each.
The first saw him lose a set to Christian Harrison, while the second saw Bernard Tomic fire him to the kerb during the first set, before he was forced to scrap for every advantage he got during the remaining three sets.
Prediction
Nishikori has struggled with injury this year and still hasn’t hit top form yet. Kyrgios has the big serve which should give him an advantage in this match-up on grass.
Kyrgios in five sets
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this match from around 2:15am (AEST) or at the conclusion
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