Despite a valiant effort from world number 124 Marco Cecchinato, 17th-seeded Nick Kyrgios advanced into the second round at the 2016 French Open for the third time in his career with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory in two hours and 22 minutes. Kyrgios described the match as "tough," giving Cecchinato a lot of credit for his level of play, saying "he played very well, very crafty."
Making his first appearance at Roland Garros, Cecchinato surprised not only the crowd, but also the Australian with his level of play and confidence. The 23-year-old has played at two other Grand Slams before in his career, losing in the first round each time. At the 2015 U.S. Open, he fell to Mardy Fish and at the 2016 Australian Open, he fell to Nicolas Mahut.
Still searching for his first Grand Slam victory, the Italian will gain a lot of confidence from today’s match. With it being so close, if a few points had gone a different way, the young Italian very well could have claimed the biggest victory in his life. Kyrgios, on the other hand, did not play badly, it was more that Cecchinato played at his top-level. Kyrgios will be happy to have gotten through that match in straight sets, considering that most matches of the day were either cut short or simply did not happen because of the rain.
Kyrgios takes tight first set in tiebreak
The rain had many effects on the players, even before the match. According to Kyrgios, he was not able to warm-up due to the conditions, which made the match that more difficult. Nonetheless, both players were at least on level-footing.
The 21-year-old from Australia opened up the match and won the very first point, also taking the very first point of the 2016 French Open. Fans expecting an easy road to victory for Kyrgios were surprised early on. Cecchinato came out very confident, going toe-to-toe with the Australian number one. Both players were strong on serve.
In fact, there were no breaks of serve throughout the entire first set. Kyrgios had two break point chances but was unsuccessful. Eventually, the set headed for a tiebreak. Going in, the 23-year-old Italian was undefeated in tiebreaks in 2016, granted he had only played one. Kyrgios held a 12-2 record in tiebreaks in 2016, and a 46-29 record throughout his young career.
The world number 124 earned a quick mini-break before Kyrgios claimed it back. The Australian earned two set points up 6-4 but failed to convert either of them. At 6-6, Kyrgios smacked a beautiful backhand down the line for a winner, setting up his third set point. He converted and took the set, 8-6 in the tiebreak.
World number 19 needs another breaker to seal second set
After a very tight first set, the second set remained on the exact same course. In the second game, Kyrgios had a look at two break chances, however, Cecchinato was able to save them both before holding for one game all.
Later in the set, the Australian number one earned himself a set point, up 6-5, but once again, the Italian 23-year-old saved the break chance, before holding, sending the second set into a tiebreak as well. Cecchinato earned his first set point in the tiebreak, but Kyrgios saved it before taking the next two points, sealing the set with the exact score of the first set tiebreak, 8-6.
Kyrgios doesn't need a tiebreak to advance into the second round
After two incredibly tight tiebreaks, the world number 19 knew that he would need to break early if he wanted to avoid another tiebreak. He did just that, finally breaking the Italian in the fifth game of the set for a 3-2 advantage. Kyrgios rode this advantage out until the very end. Up 5-3, he did have two match points on Cecchinato’s serve, but could not convert. Serving up 5-4, the former Wimbledon quarterfinalist ended the match when Cecchinato’s forehand sailed into the net.
Assessing the match, the Australian knew that the conditions would be tough, and he was very surprised by Cecchinato’s performance.
"I thought it was really tough," Kyrgios said. "I thought when I woke up this morning and saw the rain I knew it was going to be heavy conditions. And obviously not having the warm up before, you know, that's never happened to me before. I knew it was going to be a bit of a leveler out there. We were both going to be a little bit cold."
"I thought he played really well," Kyrgios continued. "I thought -- I wasn't really expecting him to, you know, the way he played the drop shots and he was very crafty. I knew it was going to be a tough match. He had two set points in the second set. I mean, I was a bit lucky at times, but I'm just happy to get through."
The world number 19 will face lucky loser Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands in round two. Sijsling defeated qualifier Adrian Unger in straight sets in his opening round match.
Speaking about his opponent, Kyrgios did not have much to say, other than he was glad to have gotten his match in before having a few days off to rest.
"Yeah, he's been on tour for a long time," Kyrgios said. "I know he's probably played a lot of Grand Slams and my good friend Thanasi [Kokkinakis] played him a while ago, so I know what kind of game style he plays. I'm just glad I got through today and got a couple of days off and can do everything I can to prepare for that."