Nick Kyrgios took just 52 minutes to blast past the number fifth seed Andrey Rublev at the Miami Open.
The No. 102 in the ATP Rankings beat the Russian 6-3, 6-0 in one his most impressive wins of a topsy turvy career.
Rublev entered the match in great form, having won titles in Marseille and Dubai before advancing to the Indian Wells semi-finals. But Kyrgios never allowed him to gain any rhythm. The former World No. 13 was extremely aggressive on returns, preventing the fifth seed from gaining a foothold in the contest before sealing the first set at 6-3.
Kyrgios broke his opponent’s serve five times during the contest while winning 56 per cent of his return points against one of the best players in the world.
The only hiccup for the Australian came as he served for the match. Ever the crowd pleaser, Kyrgios hit an underarm tweener at 40/0 that missed, and in a flash the game ended up at deuce. But the crowd favorite gathered his wits to close out the match in just 52 minutes.
The six-time ATP Tour titlist is now 6-2 on the season, with his only two losses coming against Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal.
Fabio Fognini will challenge Nick Kyrgios in the next round after battling past Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel 6-7(1), 6-2, 7-6(5) after two hours and 51 minutes.
In another game of the day, the 2018 finalist Alexander Zverev, secured first win at Hard Rock Stadium venue.
The 2018 runner-up was made to work by Borna Coric but Zverev produced an impressive deciding-set performance to secure a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 second-round victory.
Despite his run to the championship match in 2018, Zverev has struggled since the tournament’s 2019 move to Hard Rock Stadium. The win over Coric is his first at the new venue, and the World No. 4 will hope it is the start of another deep run at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
