Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios not only provided a spectacle for the crowd in Brisbane but also managed to qualify for the round of 16 in a fairly efficient and convincing manner, defeating doubles specialists Andreas Mies and Alexander Erler 6-4, 6-7, 10-8.
From the first moments of the announcement of this combination, great excitement arose in the tennis world, and even more so in Brisbane, where the crowd was expecting Novak and Nick to team up and play in front of a full stadium.
The draw wasn’t kind to them, and many thought it would just be a warm-up for the singles matches that awaited them in the coming days.
However, as the games progressed, it became clear that they had no intention of treating this match as an exhibition, but rather wanted to win at all costs against the German and Australian.
Kyrgios served as he knows how, once again showing his doubles skills, and Novak adapted to the positive madness that had taken over the court.
Although there were break opportunities, the opponents didn’t give in, but the atmosphere seemed to consume them in the end.
When it came to serving to stay in the match at 5-4 for Novak and Nick, they reached 30-0, but then received an incredible point from Djokovic near the post, followed by a lob and a passing shot from Nick, and the crowd went wild, carrying the Serbian-Australian duo to the first set – 6-4.
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In the second set, Nick continued with his service bombs, but just when it seemed that Erler and Mis were sinking and their role as favorites would turn into a final defeat, it was Erler who played better and twice kept his pair in the game.
The opponents didn’t give up until the tie-break, but there, with the last atoms of their strength, they tried to prevent Djokovic and Kyrgios from moving on – and they succeeded.
They extended this story that reached boiling point in the super tie-break. The crowd was already starting to lose patience and concentration, there were often shouts from the stands, but Novak and Kyrgios managed to please the crowd and finish the job.
However, they remained focused on the match, managed to break Djokovic and Kyrgios’ serve. They pushed to the end, didn’t use two match points, but on the last one, the Australian served an ace to end the match.
Thus, the Serbian and Australian will continue their spectacle in the round of 16 against Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, the top seeds in the tournament.
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Source: Telegraf, Photo: William WEST / AFP