Seems the story of the week for Australian Tennis was not entirely true. Hewitt will not be Nick Kyrgios’ new coach indeed. But Kyrgios was glad to have the fellow Australian, once ranked No. 1 in the world, looking on as he beat Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Tuesday in the ATP Tour’s Rogers Cup.
”He’s definitely not my coach, let’s clear that up now,” Kyrgios said. ”But he’s definitely helped me out, which is really good. He’s taken time out of his own career and his family to come out and help me. It’s really good to have a person who I can ask questions to and to lead me in the right direction.”
The 34-year-old Hewitt mostly sticks to doubles these days, but it appears that coaching will be in his future. Kyrgios, ranked 41st, calls him a friend and hopes to see him one day become captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team.
The 20-year-old Kyrgios shook off some rust to down the 31-year-old Verdasco.
”I’m just pleased to get the win,” said Kyrgios, who hasn’t played since a David Cup quarterfinal on grass in July and hasn’t been in a tournament since Wimbledon.
He advanced to a second-round meeting with third-seeded Stan Wawrinka, who he fell to in their only meeting earlier this year on a grass court.
”He plays unbelievable tennis,” Kyrgios said. ”He’s got big everything – forehand, backhand – and he’s a great athlete. I’ve got to serve well. If I serve well there’s only so much people can do. And I have to control the match.”
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia won a second-round match, 6-3, 7-6 (4) over Brazil’s Thomasz Bellucci for his 250th career win in a Masters 1000-level event. Djokovic won the event in 2007, 2011 and 2012.
Defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 10th, advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Borna Coric. Next up is Robergto Bautista, who ousted Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4.
Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, a semifinalist the last time the event was played in Montreal in 2013, got past Yen-hsun Lu 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
Fellow Canadian Milos Raonic dropped out in the second round. In his first action in since returning from a pinched nerve in a foot, the eighth-seeded Raonic lost 7-6 (1), 7-6 (1) to Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.
