Nick Kyrgios has continued his fine form at the Indian Wells Masters, ousting a player he openly dislikes, world No.8 Casper Ruud, in straight sets to advance to the fourth round.
Kyrgios was at his dominant best against the Norwegian star, finishing a 6-4 6-4 winner. It was his first victory over a top-10 opponent since he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas at the ATP Cup in 2020.
Following his win, the 26-year-old had some choice words for Ruud, who he’s butted heads with in the past.
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“I hear no talking now,” Kyrgios said down the barrel of the camera as he put his sneakers on after the match.
“I hear no talking now, none. F—-ing none. Nothing.”
The bad blood between Kyrgios and Ruud stems from the pair’s only other previous meeting, a clay court clash at the 2019 Rome Masters.
Ruud was awarded the win on that occasion after Kyrgios abruptly walked off the court following an outburst which saw him hurl a chair onto the court in frustration.
The Norwegian celebrated his victory, something Kyrgios took umbrage with after the fact, and he didn’t take a backward step about it either.
“He can say as much as he wants about me getting disqualified but it still says 1-0 to me,” Ruud told Tennissportalen in October 2019.
“I don’t know, he was totally crazy when I played him. It was nice to win. If I celebrated after the match or not? I don’t care. I was happy I got 90 points and $50,000 in prize money so why wouldn’t I celebrate?
“It’s his problem that he’s an idiot on court.”
The comments did not go unnoticed by Kyrgios, who took to twitter to call Ruud “boring”.
“Hey @CasperRuud98 next time you have something to say, I would appreciate you say it to my face, I’m sure you wouldn’t run your mouth so much after that. Until then I will continue to rather watch paint dry then watch you play tennis, boring af,” he wrote.
“But again, I also understand why you have to keep my name in your mouth because people don’t even realise that you play tennis.”
There was also this iconic twitter exchange between Kyrgios and Ruud after the Norwegian ambushed a twitter thread where the ATP invited fans to ask Kyrgios questions.
While his last meeting with Ruud was remembered for all the wrong reasons, Kyrgios was all business this time around.
The Aussie is known for having one of the most lethal service games on the men’s tour, and his serving power was showcased to full effect against Ruud.
Kyrgios dropped just six first serve points for the entire match, slamming seven aces and 23 winners for the match.
Kyrgios will face Italian No.10 Jannik Sinner in the fourth round. It is the furthest he’s advanced at Indian Wells since his quarter-final appearance in 2017.
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