Nick Kyrgios says he hopes to play at the Japan Open every year until he retires from the sport after booking his place in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Kyrgios, who is playing in his first tournament since the US Open, overcame a slow start to see off Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Booking his place in the last eight of an ATP event for the ninth time this year. In his latest match, the Australian produced an impressive 43 winners, including 22 aces. In the last two sets, he won 33 out of 40 points behind his serve.
“Towards the end, I played lights out. I forgot really how fast this court is and how big you can play on it.” Kyrgios said during an interview with TennisTV. “I just started to play the right way in the second and third set. I tried to play more aggressively. Serve through the court instead of trying to pick my spots.”
“He’s a tough player. He doesn’t mind a fast serve and his backhand is very good. I’m just happy to get through.”
The victory follows up on Kyrgios’ dominant win over Tseng Chun-Hsin in the first round where he dropped just four games. His win-loss record for 2022 now stands at 37-10 with his only title won being at the Citi Open in Washington.
The world No.20 will be kept busy this week in Tokyo. Besides his singles matches, he is also the top seed in the doubles tournament alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis who he won the Australian Open doubles title with earlier this year. Besides the extra work which is required, Kyrgios says playing doubles helps him enjoy the sport.
“Tennis is stressful as hell in singles. You try to hold yourself to such high accountability every time. You can be out here (on the court) for three hours. It is exhausting and so serious,” he said.
“Playing doubles with Thanasi (Kokkinakis) brings the fun element back. But at the same time, it’s my job and I’m here to make money. That’s how I do it. I play both events.”
Despite his packed schedule, he has still managed to explore some of Tokyo with a trip to the local zoo, as well as the nearby Pokemon centre.
“It’s just a different culture and different people. It is so fun to be around here and it is different from Australia. It is definitely an event that I want to play pretty much until the end of my career.” He stated.
Kyrgios will play either lucky loser Hiroki Moriya or Taylor Fritz in the next round.
In other matches, US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe defeated Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-1, 7-6(7). The fourth seed will next play Miomir Kecmanović who edged out Dan Evans 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4).