Wild card entry to the Miami Masters Nick Kyrgios hammered No. 5 seed Andry Rublev 6-3,6-0 in under an hour in their third round match.
It is the third Top 10 scalp in two tournaments for the Aussie firebrand having beaten Casper Ruud and Jannik Sinner on his way to the Indian Wells quarter finals last week
The six-time ATP Tour titlist is now 6-2 on the season, with his only two defeats coming against Daniil Medvedev and Rafa Nadal.
Rublev came into the match in good form, having won titles in Marseille and Dubai and reaching to the Indian Wells semi-finals but he was never allowed to get into his rhythm by No. 102 in the ATP Rankings, but he certainly did not play like it on Friday afternoon.
Kyrgios will next play Italian Fabio Fognini in what should be an entertaining contest between two of the best shotmakers on Tour.
“He came out hot at the start and that’s tennis. A couple points could swing a momentum change like that and once I got that double break, I started seeing the return really well,” Kyrgios said. “I’ve been returning well the past four months and I guess when that’s happening, I’m serving the way I’m serving, I’m feeling the way I’m feeling, my shoulders open up and I just ran with it.”
The 26-year-old Aussie will return to the world’s top 100 after securing the fastest win of the week at the Hard Rock Stadium and he took the chance to pay tribute to his mother after his stunning victory.
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