Nick Kyrgios defeated Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP Montreal Masters.
Kyrgios backchattered relentlessly with his player box, delivering an almost running commentary of his state of mind on the court in a performance that seems second nature to him.
Nevertheless, the Wimbledon runners-up dominated the All-Australian match, winning the opening set at a clip of three minutes per game in a contest that took just 64 minutes.
The pace in the second set was as fast as Kyrgios took a break in the opening game.
He failed to take the win by going 5-2, missed a drop shot and sent a forehand into the net.
But De Minaur lost the next game for love as Kyrgios won in front of a packed stadium.
The winner of last week’s Washington 500 Series title suffered a recent loss to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final. The win means he will break into the top 30 next week, ie seeding at the US Open, starting August 29.
“That was my goal, so I didn’t have to play one of the (tennis) gods in the first round,” Kyrgios said.
“Today was a tough day. There was a lot on the line. I am happy with today’s performance.
“After defeating (world number one Daniel) Medvedev yesterday, my confidence is incredibly high.
“It’s never easy to play a friend, but against Alex I went out and got the job done, I played the way I wanted to,” said Kyrgios, who was next seeded eighth-seeded Hubert Herkaz. 6-7 (6/8). , 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) winner over Albert Ramos.
With Kyrgios now winning 15 of his last 16 singles matches, “the days are blending into each other,” he said. “It’s tiring but that’s the game.”
He said: “I am missing home a lot but there are a few more tournaments until I can go home and see my family.”
Casper Roode kept his title hopes alive as he fought over three hours to beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 .
The Norwegian, who is fourth, who is still standing, said he regrouped during the 69-minute interruption as thunderstorms lashed the area after two sets were completed.
He said the time in the locker room was the perfect antidote to a game that turned a little old during the fight against Spain.
“Thanks to the weather gods,” he said. “It was a tough fight, the first two sets, two hours 20 minutes of good intensity.
“But I was feeling it a little bit in the legs, it was hard to gauge my intensity. The rain gave me time to breathe and get some energy back.”
Rudd wrapped up a long afternoon on his fourth match point, ending with 54 winners and 39 unforced errors.
Seventh-placed Rudd is the remaining top target after second-round exits from Joe Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
– The blow of Monfils’ injury –
Norway have three titles this season with a match record of 37-13. He reached the Miami finals in April but lost to Alcaraz.
He will play sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassim of Canada, who defeated Britain’s Cameron Norie 6-3, 6-4.
Unseeded Britain’s Jack Draper advanced when French legend Gael Monfils was injured while trailing 6-2, 0-2.
It is just the latest injury for 20th-ranked Monfils, who this week came back from a three-month absence with a right heel injury and felt pain in the same area after falling on the court during a match.
He briefly tried to restart the game before calling it a day.
Draper met with winner Pablo Carreno Busta, 6-2, 6-4, over seventh seed Janic Sinner of Italy.
Britain’s Daniel Evans also defeated Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-5 to meet American Tommy Paul, who defeated Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2.
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