Nick Kyrgios has no plans on ditching his controversial under-arm serve after using it with success once more at the ATP Cup in Sydney.
Kyrgios ruffled Rafael Nadal’s feathers last year when he caught the world No.1 off-guard with the sneaky ploy en route to the title in Acapulco.
“He is a player who has ginormous talent. He could win grand slams and fight the top positions of the ranking, but there is a reason why he is where he is. He lacks respect for the public, the rival and towards himself,” Nadal said.
But Cam Norrie could only applaud Kyrgios on Thursday after being caught out for slightly different reasons, the Brit confessing to not knowing when the under-arm delivery was coming.
“He was just getting me with the fake under-arm. Too good from him,” Norrie said following his 6-2 6-2 loss to Kyrgios at Ken Rosewall Arena.
Kyrgios only used one under-arm serve – and won the point doing so.
“I mean, he just kind of does it. It’s better than him serving 200 kilometres an hour. At least you can run up and hit the ball,” Norrie said.
“I prefer it, but he actually did one today and won the point, yeah.”
No less than Roger Federer claimed after Kyrgios employed the rarely used tactic that it was a perfectly legitimate move and the unpredictable Australian said he’d continue throwing it in to keep his opponents guessing.
“I think any time in a match where the opponent stops thinking about what he needs to do and starts focusing on external things like that, I think I’ve got an edge straightaway,” Kyrgios said.
“If it gets in Rafa’s head, then it’s a success.”
Kyrgios’s impressive victory over Norrie gave Australia a 1-0 lead in their quarter-final tie and improved his record in the competition to a perfect three from three.