The popularity of any sport usually hinges on its great rivalries and tennis is certainly no exception. While in its early stages, Alexander Zverev versus Nick Kyrgios is already shaping as one of the standout rivalries of the future for the ATP World Tour.
And the standout clash between the pair to date was played out almost 12 months ago at the Miami Open presented by Itau. In one of the best ATP World Tour matches of 2017, the duo squared off in a thrilling quarter-final where, in a high-quality shoot-out, the Australian needed six match points to get the job done in three sets.
“Yeah it was a great match,” Zverev said ahead of his 2018 Miami campaign. “I think that was maybe the best match we played against each other... I think the match here was great, fantastic.
"I think the match in Montreal I was playing really good and that maybe turned the match, it was a little bit easier. From my side it was perfect; from his… maybe I just played too good. But here, definitely that was the match we had the biggest battle and we played the best.”
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At the time, the win extended Kyrgios to an unbeaten 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The gap has since closed, with the Aussie now holding a narrow 3-2 lead.
The pair could again meet in the 2018 draw in the fourth round. The German will open his Miami campaign against a fellow rising prospect – either #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Daniil Medvedev in the second round.
After his first-round bye, Kyrgios will meet either Dusan Lajovic or Horacio Zeballos and would likely have to beat 15th seed Fabio Fognini for a shot at taking on Zverev.
“The crowd here is very energetic and very loud and we’re two guys who love it so this will rate our games up a lot,” Zverev said. “Over the years he has shown that this is the tournament that he plays his best. We love playing in front of crowds like that, that obviously helped us push each other and we both want to win our match.”
Zverev claimed their most recent encounter, a straight-sets result in a live Davis Cup rubber in Brisbane after this year’s Australian Open. The 20-year-old tipped his hat to the influence German great Boris Becker has had on him and his compatriots since taking over as Head of Men’s Tennis for the German Tennis Federation.
“It’s great… He’s trying to help us all develop as much as we can,” Zverev said. “Obviously players, maybe like a Jan-Lennard Struff, he’s going to help get into the Top 30 because I think he’s a good enough tennis player to do that.
“Me, we’re going to talk about different things. I think he’s going to be a massive help for all of us; a lot of tactical stuff, how to play different players. You can see I changed my game up a little bit against Kyrgios [in Brisbane] so just different tennis things.”
A sixth instalment in the rivalry before an electric crowd on Stadium Court would likely become a lasting memory for both players in the tournament’s final year at its Key Biscayne site.