Nick Kyrgios followed up his second ATP title in Atlanta with a 6-2 7-5 win over Lucas Pouille 6-2 7-5 in just 67 minutes in a match between two Next Generation players to advance to the second round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Monday evening. The young Aussie fired 16 aces and converted three of his four break points. He hit a backhand pass at 5-5 in the second set to break Pouille before closing out the match with his 16th ace.
Kyrgios went up a double break in the first and fifth games en route to winning the first set 6-2 in 29 minutes. The second set went on serve until the 11th game when Kyrgios got the only break in the only game which went at deuce. Kyrgios served out for the match and closed out with a forehand winner and his 16th ace after midnight.
Kyrgios has extended his winning streak to five straight matches, including his recent title in Atlanta. He will take on Borna Coric in the second round.
Marin Cilic also got through to the second round thanks to his 6-3 6-4 win over Viktor Troicki in a rain-delayed match. They tied 5-5 in their previous head-to-head matches but Cilic had not beaten Troicki since 2010. The first set went on serve until the 8th game when Cilic earned a break point at 30-40. The 2014 US Open champion converted his chance and served out for the sect in the next game. The second set went on serve until the seventh game when Cilic went up 30-40 on Troicki’s serve and converted his second break point chance. Only one game went at deuce on Cilic’s serve in the fourth game. Troicki did not earn a single break point in the second set. Cilic closed out on his first match point.
US wild-card Reilly Opelka came back from one set down to overcome Jeremy Chardy 3-6 7-5 7-6 (11-9) setting up a second round against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Grigor Dimitrov eased past Gilles Simon 6-1 6-3.
Pablo Cuevas came back from a set down to edge Sam Querrey 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to draw level to 1-1 i their head-to-head matches. The first set went on serve until the fifth game. In the sixth game Cuevas went up 40-0 but made two double faults and faced the first break point of the match. Cuevas fended it off. The set went on serve until Querrey was leading 5-4. Querrey broke serve in the 10th game to close out the first set 6-4 after 31 minutes.
The second set went on serve until the 9th game when Querrey saved two break points. The set came down to the tie-break. Cuevas went up 3-0 but Querre fought back by winning five consecutive points to take a 5-3 lead. Querrey wasted his chance to earn a set point by hitting a forehand long. Cuevas won three points in a row to close out the second set 7-5. Querrey failed to convert his four break points in the third set in the third and fifth games. In the sixth game Cuevas failed to convert two break point chances but broke serve in the 8th game and closed out on serve in his next service game. Cuevas will face Olympic doubles gold medallist Rafael Nadal in the second round.
