By Mitch Phillips
LONDON (Reuters) -Australian Nick Kyrgios delivered a devastating serving masterclass at Wimbledon as he blasted past Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 6-2 6-3 6-1 in 85 minutes on Thursday to charge into the third round almost without breaking sweat.
There were none of the chuntering umpire complaints or run-ins with fans that were a feature of his first-round match – Kyrgios barely had time – as he pounded down 24 aces, with only one double fault overall. He took the first set without dropping a point before many fans had even taken their seats.
Krajinovic, ranked 31st but seen as a dangerous floater on grass after reaching the Queen’s Club final earlier this month, could do nothing in the face of the barrage as Kyrgios did not let up from start to finish.
In all he dropped just nine points on serve and smoothly mixed up power and finesse to hit 50 winners – a stark contrast to his five-set struggle to overcome British wild card Paul Jubb in the first round.
“I think just getting over the line in that first round was massive,” Kyrgios said. “I’ve been playing some really good tennis in the last month so I was really surprised the way I played the other day. But I was in my zone today, great body language.
“It’s nice to remind everyone that I’m pretty good,” he added, raising a laugh from the fans on Number Two Court.
“I’ve been preparing for this tournament, it’s been circled on my calendar pretty much all year and I’m so excited to be here again. It’s genuinely a tournament I think is my best chance to win a Grand Slam, but I’ll take it match-by-match.
“Obviously I’ve got an incredibly tough draw but today I couldn’t play better and now I can just recover and get ready.”
Kyrgios, who has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals only once, on his debut in 2014, is likely to face fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round, with a potential semi-final against Rafael Nadal on the distant horizon.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ken Ferris)
