Nick Kyrgios said his Mexican Open win against Rafael Nadal was “special” after he saved nine break points and three match points.
The 23-year-old Australian went into the second-round encounter against Nadal in Acapulco after being hit by a bout food poisoning.
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And it looked like he would be facing elimination when the Spanish world number two took the first set with relative ease.
However, Kyrgios hit back to win the second set on the tie-break before somehow fighting back from numerous dire positions to secure a 3-6 7-6 7-6 victory.
It was the sixth win of his career against a player ranked in the world’s top two and a third success against Nadal in career head-to-heads.
Afterwards, Kyrgios, who will now face Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals, said: “When I was down break points, match points I was just trying to focus on making the first serve and just competing.
“No matter if I won or lost today, I was extremely proud of the way I went out there and just competed. I was dealing with food poisoning all day. I was in bed with the physio, taking tablets.
“So to go out there and compete, let alone win, was special. I didn’t really think about anything. I was just trying to make my first serve.”
