Nick Kyrgios wins in Japan as service weapon sends him up rankings

Nick Kyrgios’s service weapon is helping to propel him towards the top of men’s tennis.

Nick Kyrgios with the Japan Open trophy yesterday after defeating David Goffin of Belgium in the final yesterday.

It is potentially the most potent weapon in tennis, a “lightning bolt” serve indecipherable and ­almost impossible to break.

The weapon is helping to ­propel Nick Kyrgios towards the top of men’s tennis, with the 21-year-old a big chance to break into the world’s top 10 by the end of the Australian summer.

The serve again served Kyrgios well yesterday as he claimed the biggest title of his career, the Japan Open, beating Belgian David ­Goffin 4-6 6-3 7-5. Fittingly, he sealed his third ATP title for the season with an ace served down the T, his 25th for the final.

In a high-quality final against Goffin, who is blessed with brilliant court coverage, the Australian found himself under pressure when down a set and facing several break points early in the second set.

Throughout the third, he appeared the better player but was unable to take advantage of break point opportunities until 5-all.

While Kyrgios had been a class above his rivals throughout the week, Goffin proved a far tougher task, but the Australian thought and fought his way back into the match before gaining the edge.

Kyrgios will enter the Shanghai Masters, beginning today, full of confidence, with his remaining events for the season — pending possible qualification in London — in Basel and then France, where he will play the Paris Masters.

In regards to his serve, the Canberra native is already entrenched in the top 10 on a statistical basis, with the delivery rated the fourth-best on tour over the past 52 weeks based on a string of metrics.

John Isner leads all-comers from Ivo Karlovic, with Canadian Milos Raonic, Kyrgios and Roger Federer rounding out the top five of the most effective serves.

The prowess of the Kyrgios serve came to attention globally when he followed a defeat of Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon in 2014 by upsetting Rafael Nadal.

It is phenomenally fast but as is the case with every effective serve, it is rarely the raw speed that ­separates the elite from a world-class delivery.

It is instead its ­precision, the angle, the trajectory or the disguise that matter most. ­According to Gael Monfils, who lost to Kyrgios in a semi-final on Saturday, the Kyrgios serve has it all.

“He is definitely in the top five best serves in the world. He is young, but he has got power, accuracy, and can serve at every corner. It plays a big part of his game,” Monfils said.

The Australian did not drop a service game on route to a maiden ATP Tour title in Marseille in ­February. Marin Cilic, the US Open champion who was beaten by Kyrgios in the final, found his serve almost impossible to nullify.

“He is able to hit all corners quite easily and his accuracy is great on either his first serve or his second serve,” Cilic said. “He has a fast arm, so that gives him extra speed on his serve. There is not much you can see in the serve that can go wrong. It is probably one of the best serves on the tour.”

Kyrgios mimicked his dominance on serve in Marseille until the semi-final against Monfils, where he dropped serve for the first time. Enhancing the feat is that the Ariake Coliseum, where the Rakuten Open is being played, can produce a tricky, swirling wind, although the roof was closed for his semi-final against Monfils due to torrential rain.

Gilles Muller, his quarter-final victim, had previously played ­Kyrgios only in doubles. But prior to their quarter-final, Muller feared he would not be able to get a handle on his rival’s serve given their previous experience.

To explain further, the world No 15 does not betray the direction, spin or trajectory of his serve with his ball toss — it does not shift slightly to the right when slicing, or back over his head when hitting a kicker — making it difficult for a rival to get a steer.

“It is very hard to read because the motion is the same all the time, no matter where he serves, no matter how he hits it,” Muller said.

Former touring professionals Simon Konov and Alex Slabinsky, who now produce a website called Top Tennis Training, broke down the reasons behind its strength after Kyrgios defeated Federer in Madrid last year. They said ­Kyrgios possessed “a lightning-bolt serve where he goes through the motion very quickly”.

“A lot of players, at club level, swing into a knee bend, have that big pause, and then drive up, where as some of the best servers of all time like Goran Ivanisevic, Roscoe Tanner and now Kyrgios, he is adopting that style while it is almost going up on the ball toss,” Konov says on the online tutorial.

Courtney Walsh travelled to Japan courtesy of Rakuten