Nick Kyrgios Beats Novak Djokovic At Indian Wells To Set Up Quarterfinal Match Vs Roger Federer

Australian Nick Kyrgios upset World No. 2 Novak Djokovic for the second time in two weeks with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Wednesday.

Nick Kyrgios Upsets Novak Djokovic at BNP Paribas Open, Federer Beats nadal

Kyrigos, 21, also defeated Djokovic at the Mexican Open in Acapulco 12 days earlier, and will next face Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.

Federer claimed his third straight win over longtime rival Rafael Nadal, winning 6-2, 6-3.

“I did very well today, I’m so pleased I’m able to step into the court and play super aggressive,” said Federer, who beat Nadal in just 68 minutes. “Coming over the backhand has been part of that.”

“It’s a nice feeling to win the last three. I can tell you that,” added the Swiss, a four-time Indian Wells champion. “But most importantly, I won Australia. That was big for me.

“For me, it was all about coming out and trying to play the way I did in Australia. I didn’t think it was going to be that possible, to be quite honest, because the court is more jumpy here so it’s hard to put the ball away.”

Kyrgios, meanwhile, said he felt confident in what his goal was coming into his match against Djokovic, whom he praised.

“It feels good. I knew what I had to do today,” Kyrgios said. “It was always going to be tough – he is a great champion.”

The Australian— who was suspended and fined earlier this year due to lack of efforts in previous matches— recorded 25 aces against 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic in Mexico, and got 14 in California on Wednesday. Kyrgios also hit 25 winners past his Serbian opponent, who was incapable of attaining a single break point chance against the World No. 16. Kyrgios crashed out of the Australian Open in January after losing to Italian Andreas Seppi in the second round.

Djokovic, who has won the BNP Paris Open three consecutive years, had previously been undefeated in 20 matches at Indian Wells.

“The run was amazing,” Djokovic said. “It had to end at some stage. Unfortunately, it was today.”

Also on Wednesday at Indian Wells, Japanese fourth-seed Kei Nishikori beat American Donald Young 6-2, 6-4, while No. 21-seed Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta and Argentine 27th seed Pablo Cuevas also advanced to the quarter-finals.

American 17th seed Jack Sock fought past Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-5.

Finally, Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem defeated France’s Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2. Thiem will now face Swiss Stan Wawrinka, a three-time grand slam champion who saw off world No. 70 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 3-6 6-3 7-6 after two hours and 13 minutes of play.

On the women’s side, eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova swept past fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-2 to reach the women’s semifinals. Kuznetsova will next face Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova, who beat out Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 French Open Champion, 7-6, 7-6.

Denmark’s No. 13-seed Caroline Wozniacki beat ninth-seeded American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-4. Wozniacki will now face 28th-seeded Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in Thursday’s quarterfinal.

No. 12 Venus Williams and 14th-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina in Thursday’s other quarter-final.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 18: Nick Kyrgios of Australia serves in his second round match against Andreas Seppi of Italy on day three of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 18, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena