Reuters
Paris, Feb 22: Australian Nick Kyrgios, widely fancied to be the next superstar of world tennis, demonstrated just why as he claimed his first ATP title in the Marseille Open by beating Croatian Marin Cilic 6-2, 7-6 (3) here Sunday.
The promising 20-year-old with the brash attitude, big game and outlandish talent hammered down 17 aces to earn the scalp of former US Open champion Cilic in the final. It concluded a dramatic breakthrough week for Kyrgios, who had previously garnered almost as many headlines for his on-court misbehaviour as his obvious rare ability.
The man from Canberra also beat two top-10 ranked players in Richard Gasquet and Tomas Berdych plus the 12th-ranked Cilic, and did not lose a set in the tournament, his serve being unbroken in 47 games.
Kyrgios, whose ranking of 41 will shoot up, was playing in his second ATP final after finishing runner-up in Estoril last year but his maiden victory seems sure to be the first of many. He is the first player under the age of 21 to down top 10 players in consecutive matches since Juan Martin del Potro beat Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer to lift the 2009 US Open crown.
Kyrgios put Cilic under pressure from the start. He converted his eighth break point for a 3-1 lead in the opening set before capturing a second break in the seventh game and then serving out to love to take
the set.
