The toughest assignment in men’s tennis – Rafael Nadal on clay – looms next for Nick Kyrgios after a breezy win by the Australian at the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Kyrgios did what his compatriot Bernard Tomic on Tuesday could not – down American Ryan Harrison.
And the lanky Canberran did it with almost Roger Federer-like ease in the 6-3 6-3 victory that took little over an hour.
Nadal though did not have it all his own way and took nearly three hours to put away enigmatic Italian Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4.
Indeed it was the free-swinging Fognini who took the early ascendancy and had Nadal on the ropes for much of the opening set, which he even served for at 5-4 before Nadal broke back and forced a tiebreak, in which the Spaniard won the final four points to take the set.
Fognini, who has two prior claycourt wins over Nadal in their seven meetings on the dirt, was not done though.
The world No.29 mixed his game up more in the second set and took it from a shell-shocked Nadal to force a decider.
Nadal though was equal to the task and served for the match at 5-3 but Fognini broke back off an uncharacteristic forehand error, only for Nadal to break the Italian straight away and take the match.
Nadal prior to the Fognini match had looked to be in imperious touch after winning back-to-back titles in Monaco and Barcelona.
He’s won ten straight, lost just one set in that time and now has an all-time record of 51 claycourt titles, which may well become 52 by week’s end.
But Kyrgios looks to be improving all the time on the surface, has a claycourt final to his name (Estoril, 2015) and pinched a set off Nadal in their round of 16 clash in Rome last year.
He also won their only other encounter at Wimbledon in 2014.
There’s also further impetus for Kyrgios to do well.
A delayed start to the clay court season after the death of his grandfather has seen Kyrgios drop to No.20 in the world.
A move back into the top 16 by the French Open would be useful for the two-time grand slam quarter-finalist, ensuring he avoids anyone seeded higher than him until at least the fourth round.
In other action Novak Djokovic scraped into the third round after veteran Spaniard Nicolas Almagro blew a 3-0 final set lead to allow the former world No.1 to win 6-1 4-6 7-5 and book a battle with another Spanish veteran in Felciano Lopez.
Lopez advanced with a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-3) win over Frenchman Gilles Simon.
Other big names through to the third round include Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori.