Nick Kyrgios breezed through apparel and slow challenge controversies as easily as he dispatched 104th-ranked Frenchman Antoine Hoang on Thursday to reach the third round of the US Open.
The 28th-seeded Australian blasted Hoang 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to match his deepest US Open run and booked a date with 43rd-ranked Andrey Rublev, who beat Roger Federer at Cincinnati two weeks ago, to decide a berth in the last 16.
“He’s a young, fearless player who has been playing really well the last couple weeks,” Kyrgios said. “He plays big from both sides. He’s a great player.”
Kyrgios won their only meeting last year in Moscow, recalling, “It was an incredibly tough match.”
The 24-year-old Canberra-born product had two minor issues in his match, the first over a collar inscription “Just Do You” that officials feared violated clothing rules, forcing Kyrgios to fold down his collar.
“I think they thought it was a slogan, but it wasn’t,” Kyrgios said. “It wasn’t anything to do with a marketing thing. I think they must have read it wrong.”
