WHAT HAPPENED: It wasn’t easy, but he got it done in the end. Nick Kyrgios extended his incredible summer with a straight-set 7-6 (3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over France’s Benjamin Bonzi. The Aussie—fresh off an emotional opener against longtime friend and doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis—fired off 30 aces and 65 winners to advance to the third round at Flushing Meadows for the fifth time.
“I wasn't going out there expecting him to not be good or something, but his level was really, really good,” Kyrgios said after the match. “I was really fortunate to get through in four sets. I was down 0-40 [at 4-4] in the fourth, and I played some really low-percentage tennis to get out of that game. Yeah, it was one of those matches where you kind of survive.”
Bonzi also came through a tough first-rounder against a fellow countryman, battling Ugo Humbert over five sets for three hours and 32 minutes. If he felt tired, he didn’t show it. Kyrgios did break Bonzi in the very first game of the match, which, given the strength of the Wimbledon finalist’s serve, felt ominous for the Frenchman. However, just two games later, the No. 23 seed double faulted and committed a few other unforced errors to get broken right back.
The pair stayed even for the remainder of the set with Bonzi doing a good job staying on the front foot, coming forward when he could and using his exemplary defense in the rallies. Kyrgios was only landing at 62% of his first serves, but when he did make it, he was winning 81% of the points. He also raced through his final service game in approximately 60 seconds—a good indication of where the set was headed.
The first-set tiebreak featured some of the flashiest shotmaking of the match to that point, with Bonzi diving onto the court not once, but twice, to stay in two different rallies. (Both times he lost the point; one time he watched helplessly from the ground as Kyrgios’s ball sailed past him.) Shortly after, Kyrgios hit a scorching backhand return winner to go up a mini-break, and it was all he needed to take the set and gain the lead in the match.
Kyrgios increased his first-serve percentage and fired off more winners in the second, though the pair stayed even for most of the set. The outcome ultimately hinged on the last two games. At 4-4, the Australian had a bit of a wobble and served two double faults. He was made to play multiple deuce points, but capably served his way out of it. Bonzi then had two game points on his own service game at 5-4, but committed four errors in a row—including a double fault of his own—to hand Kyrgios the set.
(Recent) history repeated itself in the third, with Kyrgios playing another loose game at 4-4. This time, Bonzi took advantage, broke, then capably served it out to gain a foothold in the scoreline. Kyrgios looked like he might boil over, and he played a sloppy second service game to get broken early in the fourth.
After giving his box the business, he regrouped and broke right back off the strength of another solid backhand down the line. Bonzi was beginning to connect more on his returns, though, and continued to use his speed around the court to make life difficult for his higher-ranked opponent. At 4-4 he created three break-point opportunities on the Kyrgios serve, and it looked like the Frenchman might swing momentum squarely in his direction. Instead, Kyrgios hit three straight winners, including a drop shot and an ace, to ultimately win the game. Bonzi, perhaps flustered by that outcome, lost the next four points on his own serve to lose the match.
WHAT IT MEANS: Kyrgios is currently in the middle of perhaps the greatest stretch of his career. After reaching the Wimbledon final in July (where he ultimately lost to Novak Djokovic), the world No. 25 captured his seventh title in Washington, D.C., and then upset world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the Montreal second round.
He admitted that the good results were actually making him feel more pressure than usual on-court.
“It's so stressful now because every match I play, I'm kind of expecting to play so good,” Kyrgios said. “Such a clean performance is not realistic in a sport like this where you're playing day in, day out. I probably have to lower the expectation of playing like it’s a Wimbledon final every time. There are so many capable players who can play.”
He’ll next face the very capable American J.J. Wolf, who is making his second appearance in the third round in three years. The two have never played each other.
A potential rematch with defending champion Medvedev looms in the Round of 16.
MATCH POINT: This victory marked the 201st win of Kyrgios' career.
