Federer 'couldn't return' Kyrgios' serve in Madrid Open defeat

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World No. 2 Roger Federer conceded he had no answer to Nick Kyrgios' booming serve as the Australian defeated his idol at the Madrid Open.

Kyrgios continued his meteoric rise on Wednesday, overcoming Federer 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (14-12) in his first meeting with the Swiss master.

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Federer won just 18 of 85 points on Kyrgios' first serve, with the 20-year-old Australian firing down 22 aces as he triumphed in 2 hours, 37 minutes in Spain's capital.

"My problem was I couldn't return his first serve," Federer said, according to the ATP's website. "(It) was just a horrible performance on the return.

"As the match went on it got so bad that I just couldn't get into decent positions on the return, so it made it very difficult to get any sort of rhythm after that. But credit to him for serving well and keep doing what he was doing. But I'm very disappointed by that. That's what cost me the match, in my opinion."

For Kyrgios, the second-round victory at Madrid's ATP Masters event will live long in the memory.

Kyrgios became just the sixth player to beat both Federer and Rafael Nadal in his maiden matches against the star pair, and he is the first to achieve that feat when the latter two were ranked in the top 10 in the world.

"Blessed to play one of my childhood heroes in Roger Federer. Blessed to get the win," the 35th-ranked player tweeted.

Federer backed Kyrgios to make the most of his potential, saying, "He likes the big stage. He's got nothing to lose, no fear, and he's got a great game. He can rely on his serve so much. It keeps him in the match regardless of he how he plays from the baseline."

Kyrgios will face John Isner in the third round.

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