Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has eased into the third round at Wimbledon with a straight sets win over Dutchman Robin Haase on Thursday.
The 15th seeded Kyrgios took just 96 minutes to defeat Haase 6-3, 6-4 ,7-5 serving up 19 aces and breaking his opponent four times on his way to victory.
The win followed Kyrgios’ first round four set win over Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin earlier in the week.
However it wasn’t all entirely smooth sailing for Kyrgios with the match umpire issuing the Australian with a code-violation for swearing.
The win means Kyrgios will now go on to play Japanese star, Kei Nishikori in a third round match after Nishikori dumped Bernard Tomic out of the tournament with a four set win, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.
It sets up the third round match between Kyrgios and the 28th seed.
Nishikori’s performance against Tomic on the grass court (which is arguably Tomic’s strongest surface) plus his record against Kyrgios, will give him confidence in the match against the Australian. A former US Open finalist, Nishikori has defeated Kyrgios in each of their three meetings, which have all been on hard courts. This will be the first time they will play each other on grass, and in a five set match.
After the win against Haase, Kyrgios acknowledged that in order for him to perform to the peak of his ability, he needs to stay calm and positive.
“It’s hard for me to find the balance sometimes. When I’m in a calm place with a lot of energy, I think that’s when I play my best tennis,” he said.