Australia’s Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur have progressed to the second round at the in Acapulco ATP 500 event.
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Photo: Alexei Popyrin of Australia returns a ball during the match against Alexander Zverev of Germany as part of the day 2 of the Telcel Mexican Open 2019 at Mextenis Stadium on February 26, 2019 in Acapulco, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Kyrgios took care of world no. 49 Italy’s Andreas Seppi, while de Minaur defeated Chile’s world no. 67 Nicolas Jarry. Popyrin was not so lucky as he lost to no. 2 seed Alexander Zverev from Germany.
Kyrgios was able to break Seppi in the opening game and then break again later in the set to win the set 6-3. The Australian did not face a break point in the opening set.
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Photo: Nick Kyrgios of Australia serves during the match against Andreas Seppi of Italy as part of the day 2 of the Telcel Mexican Open 2019 at Mextenis Stadium on February 26, 2019 in Acapulco, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
In the second set it was again Kyrgios that broke first, this time Seppi was able to break back. When it looked as though the second set would be decided in a tie break it was Kyrgios that got the second service break to take the match 6-3, 7-5.
de Minaur and Jarry did not face a break point in their opening set. In the tie-break, it was de Minaur that got the first mini-break at 1-2 with Jarry serving. The Chilean mishit a forehand into the net to lose the point. Jarry got the mini-break back at 2-4 and then the scores were level after de Minaur hit long.
An ace from Jarry got him ahead 5-4 before de Minaur ran off three straight points to take the set. Jarry blasted wide on set point to lose the set.
Jarry jumped to a 4-3 lead in the second set after breaking de Minaur in the seventh game. A break point coming when de Minaur hit long. A double fault conceded the game.
The Australian was able to break back immediately, earning a break point at 30-40 after Jarry netted the ball. An overhit forehand from Jarry gave the break to de Minaur.
From there the players held serve without conceding another break point and the match was decided in the tiebreaker. de Minaur jumped out to a 2-0 lead before seeing Jarry level the score at 2-2. From that moment de Minaur won the next five point to seal a 7-6(5), 7-6(2) victory.
Alexei Popyrin had made the main draw through qualifying although he did not need to play the final match in qualifying after Bernard Tomic withdrew through illness. The young Australian found himself on centre-court against world no. 3 Alexander Zverev.
Popyrin was not able to trouble the serve of Zverev as the German did not face a single break point throughout the match. In the first set Popyrin was broken on two occasions, and once in the second. It will go down as another learning experience for the 19-year-old Australian.
Zverev broke Popyrin in the opening game of the match and again in the ninth game. In the second set, the only break came in the sixth game. The break point coming when Popyrin hit a shot into the net. Popyrin saved the break point after a kind net cord, but then Zverev earned a second break point when he forced Popyrin into an error. The break coming when Popyrin hit well wide.
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