"I was surprised that the public cheered me here. It's nice"
Wednesday 17 October 2018 17:38, UK
Nick Kyrgios admits he is feeling the love in Moscow after being cheered by the home crowd as he beat Russian youngster Andrey Rublev in the Kremlin Cup first round.
The 23-year-old Kyrgios, who has slumped to 37th in the world rankings after struggling for form and fitness this year, showcased his talents with a 6-3 4-6 6-4 win over the 20-year-old on his home turf.
But the Australian said he was "surprised" to be cheered at the Olympic Stadium Arena as the crowd lapped up Kyrgios' show-stopping shot-making.
The temperamental Kyrgios, seeded fifth in the tournament, fired 24 aces to win his first-ever meeting with Rublev, who is praised afterwards.
"I love to play indoors and we played a lot with Andrey in juniors. He's going to have a great career," Kyrgios said.
"I was surprised that the public cheered me here. It's nice. Normally when I'm not at home I'm not the most loved person but it was nice to hear some cheering. I felt almost at home here."
In the women's tournament, Sloane Stephens suffered a surprise defeat to Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur 6-3 6-2.
Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, secured qualification for the WTA Finals last week after a strong season which included reaching the French Open final.
Jabeur will next face Anett Kontaveit in the quarter-finals after the eighth-seeded Estonian beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-2 7-6 (7-3).
Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina qualified for the WTA Finals to complete the field for next week's tournament in Singapore.
Pliskova was left sweating after losing 6-1 6-2 to Vera Zvonareva in the second round of the Kremlin Cup but Kiki Bertens needed to make the semi-finals to deny her and she then lost her second-round clash 6-3 4-6 6-3 to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Bertens may yet make it, with world No 1 Simona Halep struggling with a back injury. Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens, Angelique Kerber and Petra Kvitova are the other qualifiers.
Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils will meet in the last 16 of the European Open in Antwerp after winning their respective first-round matches.
Tsonga overcame Argentina's Guido Pella 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7-5), while Monfils eased past Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 6-0 6-3.
At the Intrum Stockholm Open in Sweden, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco reached the last 16 with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Matthew Ebden of Australia
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