Wimbledon is no flukeSeptember 05, 2014

Nick Kyrgios can be the top male Australian tennis player before the year ends.

Kyrgios, winner of the boy's singles event at the 2013 Australian Open, proves he's no fluke. He'll be in the Top 50 of the ATP rankings after the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year. His campaigned ended in the third round. After leading a set and a break in the second, Tommy Robredo, the 16th seed, dug deep. The Spaniard used his experience to turn the match around and win in four sets, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

"Wimbledon was great, but this tournament was really positive," Kyrgios's coach Todd Larkham said.

"It just showed in his own mind and everyone that he's the real deal and that Wimbledon wasn't a fluke and he's right there with those top guys."

Summer to remember

Kyrgios was a wildcard at the Wimbledon Championships last June. He upset Rafael Nadal, the two-time winner, in the fourth round, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. He became the talk of the tournament. The native of Canberra was seen as the next star in Australian tennis. He lost in the second round of the Rogers Cup, his next tournament after Wimbledon, but Patrick Rafter, the Davis Cup captain for Australia, didn't let his good performance in Flushing Meadows go unnoticed.

The 2014 Davis Cup World Group Play-offs will be held on September 12-14. The eight losing teams in the World Group first round ties early this year and the eight winners of last year's Zonal Group I final round ties will compete for spots in the 2015 World Group. Australia plays host to Uzbekistan, with Denis Ustomin, the world number 44, leading the Asian nation. Rafter, two-time winner of the US Open, will count on Lleyton Hewitt, world number 41, and Kyrgios.

"It's been a big couple of months for the boys and we've seen some good results, both on grass during and after Wimbledon, and at the US Open last week," Rafter said.

"Lleyton won the title in Newport, Nick had a fantastic run at Wimbledon, beating Rafa (Rafael Nadal) to make the quarters and he continued his momentum at the US Open."

Looking forward

Fans will see more of Kyrgios early next year.

He and Casey Dellacqua will represent Australia in next year's Hopman Cup. They have a good chance of winning the mixed-gender tournament, as Dellacqua is one of the top-ranked doubles players in the WTA Tour. Not even the confirmation of Andy Murray and Serena Williams lessen the odds.

The Australian Open is next. It's been almost four decades since a homegrown talent hoisted the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup; Mark Edmonton defeated John Newcomble in an all-Aussie men's singles finals. Hewitt lost the 2005 finals to Russia's Marat Safin in four sets, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. He was the last Australian to reach the finals. Kyrgios might make a deep run in the year's first Grand Slam event. And he's only nineteen years of age.

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