Kyrgios Arrives in Marseille; Errani Wins Dubai Debacle
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Aussie Nick Kyrgios and Austrian Dominic Thiem have separated themselves from the pack only two months into the new ATP year in regard to newbies who could be the next players lifting Grand Slam trophies. And if you’re not a fan of the bad boy Kyrgios, you’d better buckle up for the next few years.
ADHEREL
Kyrgios captured his first career title on Sunday at Marseille when the Aussie upset No. 4 seed Marin Cilic 6-2, 7-6(3) for the Open 13 championship.
The 20-year-old during the week ousted Top 10 opponents Richard Gasquet and Tomas Berdych in addition to the former Slam winner Cilic — all without dropping a set.
“I played my first final last year and was looking for my first title, but I didn’t really expect to win this title this week after having a couple of weeks off,” said Kyrgios, who lost to Gasquet in the Estoril final last year in his first championship-round appearance. “But from the first round I started playing really well and just gained confidence as I kept winning matches.”
Kyrgios broke early in the first set, and in the second set fought off a Cilic set point with the Croat serving at 5-4.
“I think I served really, really well again,” Kyrgios said. “I was serving really well all week. I didn’t get broken once. That was the main thing that was good. And I was able to put pressure on my opponents’ serves a lot when I was going through my service games really quickly.”
It was only the second tournament of 2016 for Kyrgios who has been battling an elbow injury. Cilic fell to 14-10 in career finals.
Errani Emerges From Dubai Debris for 1st 2016 Title
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships started out in disastrous fashion for its organizers after every seeded player lost their opening-round match, but ended with a familiar face as former Top 10 fixture Sara Errani of Italy captured the title with an easy 6-0, 6-2 victory over the big-stage struck Czech Barbora Strycova on Saturday.
“I’m sorry for Barbora — she’s an amazing player, but I’m really happy to win this tournament,” Errani said on court afterwards. “It’s been a tough week for me, and I’m really happy for me, my team and my family and friends.”
It was the ninth career title for Errani, who improved to 9-10 in career finals.
Strycova sprayed 43 unforced errors, or about three per game, to 15 winners. Her biggest win during the week was upending former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic.
“For sure, well done to Sara,” Strycova said. “I’m sorry for keeping it so short. I tried everything, but nothing was working.”
The Czech was seeking her first title since 2011, and fell to 1-5 in career finals.
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