Nick Kyrgios played people pleaser in his Montreal return.
Two days after Kyrgios made history as the first man to sweep Washington, DC singles and doubles championships, he beat Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-4 in his Montreal opener.
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A red-hot Kyrgios scored his 13th victory in his last 14 matches—his lone loss in that span coming to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final—to set up a blockbuster vs. world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday.
Kyrgios said he was pleased with his performance and happy to give people what they want: the Wimbledon finalist vs. the US Open champion.
"After the singles final and doubles final in Washington, didn't get back to the hotel in Montreal till about 3 a.m., didn't practice yesterday," Kyrgios told the media in Montreal. "Really impressed with my performance today. Sebastian is probably having the best year of his career. He's top 35 in the world. He's a great competitor. So I knew it was going to be tough.
"I'm happy that I'm giving everyone what they want: Kyrgios v. Medvedev second round. See how it goes."
Australian Open doubles champion Kyrgios has won two of three meetings vs. Medvedev, including a 7-6, 7-6 victory in the 2019 Washington, DC final. But the top seed beat the Aussie at the Australian Open in January.
The explosive-serving Kyrgios is hoping for quick conditions and suggests fatigue could be a factor as both men are coming off title runs. Medvedev crushed Cameron Norrie to win his 14th title in Los Cabos last weekend.
"It's going to be hard, that's for sure. I know physically and mentally I'm not as fresh as I would like," Kyrgios said. "But he also came off a title last week in Los Cabos. He's going to be feeling I think a little bit tired - I hope.
"But I'm going to do everything right. I'm going to get good rest tonight, good physio, and I'm just going to give it my best shot.
"Hopefully the weather can be a bit warmer than today so the balls can be a bit faster. I'm going to go out there and have fun and try and play the best I can. It's not a bad result if you lose to Medvedev. Most of the world does."
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