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By Chris Oddo | Monday, August 25, 2014

 
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19-year-old Nick Kyrgios stunned two-time US Open semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny on Day 1 in four sets.

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Nick Kyrgios, despite an ailing left arm and a few momentary lapses of reason, is picking up where he left off at Wimbledon—with stunning upsets.

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Today the 19-year-old Aussie notched a 7-5, 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(1) victory over 21st-seeded Mikhail Youzhny to reach the second round at the U.S. Open for the first time.


Kyrgios looked to be in danger of blowing a two sets to love lead after he had dropped the third set easily and fallen behind a break in the fourth. But the emotional, impulsive talent rallied with Youzhny serving for the set, breaking to draw even then playing a near-perfect tiebreaker to clinch the victory.

“I was struggling a little bit about the two-and-a-half hour mark,” Kyrgios would later say, “but I knew that if I hung in I would get that second wind where I could start playing good tennis again, and that's what happened in the fourth set.”

The tempestuous Aussie was given three code violations for various infractions (smashing a ball out of the stadium was one of them), but he reeled himself in nicely at the finish, showing composure as well as fire to push Youzhny out the draw.

Kyrgios admitted that his outbursts probably weren’t helpful, but he didn’t seem to be too concerned that it would be a problem for him going forward. “It just comes from having high expectations most of the time,” he said. “I have been an emotional player most of my career. Maybe I will be able to manage it in the future. It's a work in progress. It's something that's always been there.”

A bigger problem than his temper is the left arm, which forced him to withdraw from Cincinnati earlier this summer, and has continued to give him trouble in New York. He sought the attention of trainers during the match, and was visibly frustrated by it. Reportedly, he even yelled “Why am I even playing?” during the early parts of the match.

“The arm was a little sore, but I've just got to accept it's not going to change any time soon,” Kyrgios said. “Just got to keep pushing through. I started doing that towards the end of the fourth set.”

Kyrgios will face Andreas Seppi in the second round. Seppi was a straight-sets winner over Sergiy Stakhovsky on Day 1.

 

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