Australian No. 18 seed Nick Kyrgios fired into the Roland Garros second round on Tuesday by firing down 20 aces in a 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over the experienced Philipp Kohlschreiber, who remains two match wins shy of 150 career clay-court victories. The 22-year-old Kyrgios, who is now 19-6 on the year, has advanced to three ATP World Tour semi-finals at Marseille (l. to Tsonga), Acapulco (l. to Querrey) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Federer).
“There was a lot of question marks on how I would perform today,” admitted Kyrgios. “I haven't had that many matches on the clay. Obviously, [I’ve] been struggling physically… and not feeling that confident. I saw the draw and I thought it was going to be very tough. (Kohlschreiber's) been around for a long time now and he knows what to do to win matches. I think he's pretty comfortable on the clay. I served really well today at important times in the match, and I thought I just played the right style of game to win today with what I had. Hopefully, I can keep going.”
Kyrgios goes onto face former World No. 10 Kevin Anderson, who hit 13 aces and won 80 per cent of his first-service points to beat Malek Jaziri 7-6(4), 6-3, 7-6(4) in two hours and 35 minutes.
A couple of weeks ago, Kyrgios appointed former World No. 4 Sebastian Grosjean as his coach on a part time. It was the Australian’s first appointment since severing ties with Todd Larkham and Joshua Eagle in 2015.
”I was kind of just looking for the right person to guide me and keep me on track,” said Kyrgios. “I feel like my game, I know what to do to win matches. I don't feel like my level is a problem. It's more about being consistent and obviously just finding that motivation every day to stand the grind and give 100 per cent. He's the type of guy that cares about my well-being first, rather than just tennis results.
“He knows I need my space at times and he knows how to deal with me. I think at the moment it's pretty good. Obviously, it's hard for me when we're in the practice court having someone in my ear. I haven't had that for almost three years. To go from one extreme to the other, it's a slow transition, but I think I'm getting there.
“I get pretty internal at times, and when he's telling me to focus on things I kind of just think tactically. I guess that's what I struggle with. So to have him keep reminding me what to do is helping.”
Grosjean retired from professional tennis seven years ago, having compiled a 4-9 record in ATP World Tour finals. He reached the semi-finals of 2001 Australian Open and Roland Garros, and at 2003 and 2004 Wimbledon.
Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.