Kyrgios wins Sarasota Challenger
Rising Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has bounced back from injury to claim his second ATP Challenger Tour title in Florida.
Sarasota, FL, USA, 21 April 2014 | AAP
Rising Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has bounced back from injury to claim his second ATP Challenger Tour title in Florida.
The 18-year-old survived a barrage of quality drop shots from Serbian Filip Kranjinovic to win the Sarasota Open final 7-6 6-4 on Sunday.
“He kept hitting them right where it hurt,” the Canberran told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
“He was really impressive.”
It was Kyrgios’ first tournament following six weeks on the sideline with an elbow injury, which put a dampener on his impressive performance at the Australian Open in January.
The young gun soared up the world rankings following his second-round loss at the Melbourne Grand Slam, but dropped more than 60 places to No.221 while out of action.
Sunday’s straight-sets win, however, has sent him back up to 171st on the ATP standings.
Kyrgios next heads to Georgia for the Savannah Challenger, where he admits expectations will be high.
“It’s a bit of a weight on my shoulder but it’s pretty exciting and motivating,” he said.