By Chris Oddo | Thursday March 30, 2017
The second meeting between Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev in March lived up to its billing.
March madness.
There were elements of zany, snippets of sensational and tense controversy that erupted late in the match, but behind the wall of smoke and mirrors there lurked some of the best tennis that to of the poster boys for tennis' generation next had to offer.
Kyrgios and Zverev locked horns in a two-hour and 33-minute tussle that ebbed and flowed and at times threatened to spiral out of control, and when it was all said and done the Aussie claimed a 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-3 victory to book his spot in the semifinals alongside Roger Federer.
Kyrgios had the upper hand in the early going and he cruised along without facing a break point through the first two stanzas, but Zverev proved to be indomitable in the second set tiebreaker and he put all of his fiery passion into surviving three match points and converting his third set point to force a decider.
The aforementioned touch points do nothing to describe the color and character of the contest. There were too many wildly entertaining, showstopping points to keep track of. Kyrgios was at his circus best, keeping the mood light with a barrage of ‘tweeners that kept the fans on the edge of their seat.
But there were serious moments as well, and both players put their best, howling tennis on full display for long stretches. Zverev, who went meekly to Kyrgios when they met for the first time in the third round at Indian Wells last week, showed much better form. He took charge of his share of the rallies, and at times the pair played long points reminiscent of Murray and Djokovic's physical combat.
Kyrgios responded well to the difficulty of missing his match points and kept his serve at the forefront in the deciding set. He was not broken all evening and did not face a break point.
Things quickly heated up in the third set when Kyrgios was allowed a late challenge on a call that was horribly botched by the linesman on the baseline. The call was overturned and Zverev went after umpire Fergus Murphy for allowing Kyrgios to make the challenge.
The German lost his focus there for a moment, maybe longer, and it opened the window for Kyrgios’ critical break. He took a 4-2 lead and used his serve to take him home.
At the conclusion of the spirited battle the two exchanged in a mutual show of respect at net. There were no hard feelings, the white-hot noise of the match's fever had faded and they embraced like old chums.
This could be the beginning of a special rivalry.
Kyrgios improves to 14-3 on the season. He has won seven matches consecutively, dating back to a loss to Sam Querrey at Acapulco.
The Aussie defeated Roger Federer at their only previous meeting in Madrid in 2015. They were slated to meet in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells two weeks ago, but Kyrgios had to pull out due to a stomach flu.