Roberto Bautista Agut toppled Nick Kyrgios 6-1 6-4 after 1 hour and 21 minutes clinching his fifth win of the 2020 season in the semifinal of the ATP Cup. The world number 10 player gave Spain a 1-0 lead ahead of the second singles match between Alex De Minaur and Rafael Nadal.
Bautista Agut converted three of his seven break points and saved the only break point chance in the second set before breaking serve in the fifth game. Kyrgios hit 13 aces, but he dropped 45 points on his first serve.
Kyrgios reached two deuces on his return in the first game, but he dropped his serve in the second game, when he hit his backhand long. Bautista Agut consolidated the break with an ace in the third game and converted his third break point in the fourth game after a lucky net cord. The Spanish player cruised to a 5-0 lead with a service winner after 23 minutes.
Both players held serve in the first four games of the second set before Bautista Agut earned his first break to take a 3-2 lead, when Kyrgios sent a forehand long. Bautista Agut saved a break point in the sixth game and held his serve to open up a 4-2 lead. Kyrgios hit two big serves to claw his way back to 4-5. Bautista Agut held serve at 15 in the 10th game to seal the win on his first match point, when Kyrgios sent his forehand long.
“Nick is a great talent, so to beat him in two sets means I did a great job. My game plan was trying to make him under pressure to play every point and to make him work the whole match. Tennis is a tough job. We are used to coming to the court very tired and having to still play and give our best on the court and that’s what Spain does every time. We are used to playing these kind of matches. It’s very nice to play with a full crowd, with a lot of spectators. It feels great to play tennis like this in a big match like this”,said Bautista Agut.
