Kyrgios lands maiden ATP title

Young Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has won his first ATP title with a straight-sets win over Croatian Marin Cilic in the Marseille Open final.

Nick Kyrgios of Australia.

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has won his first ATP title at the Marseilles Open. (AAP)

Nick Kyrgios has double cause for celebration after securing his maiden ATP title in France.

Kyrgios's stylish 6-2 7-6 (7-3) victory over 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic in the Marseille Open final on Sunday night (Monday AEDT) also saw out his six-month suspended sentence for sledging Stan Wawrinka last year.

Australia's two-time grand slam quarter-finalist had been walking an emotional tightrope since August as the prospect of a 28-day ban shadowed his every move at ATP events.

Kyrgios can now breathe easier as he closes in on an all-important top-32 seeding for the French Open starting on May 22.

The 20-year-old is set to climb to world No.32 after sweeping to the Marseille title without dropping a set in five matches and also becoming the first under-21 star since Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open to score consecutive wins over top-10 rivals.

Kyrgios's straight-sets dispatch of the 12th-ranked Cilic followed even more convincing wins over world No.10 Richard Gasquet and world No.8 Tomas Berdych, his third-round Australian Open conqueror last month.

"I came here not expecting to win it, to be honest. It was a tough field - Marin, Berdych and guys like this," Kyrgios said.

"But I played high quality all week. It was a great tournament. I really enjoyed my stay a lot. It's one of my favourite places and I played really, really well today."

Kyrgios broke Cilic twice, crunched 16 aces to take his tally for the week to 72 in what he described as his best serving display of his career.

Despite playing his first event since the Australian Open after withdrawing from Rotterdam with an elbow issue, Kyrgios lost only five first-serve points in his victories over Cilic, Berdych and Gasquet.

"I think I served really, really well again," said Kyrgios.

"I was serving really well all week," he said.

"I didn't get broken once. That was the main thing that was good. And I was able to put pressure on my opponents' serves a lot when I was going through my service games really quickly."

Kyrgios thanked his team, including brother Christos, for "keeping me on track all week" after crowning his stay in the south of France with a cheque for 106,175 euros ($A165,000).

"I'll be back for sure," he said.

"J'aime bien le fromage (I love my cheese)."

Kyrgios heads to Dubai this week, when world No.1 Novak Djokovic headlines the action, with the Australian opening against Slovakian seventh seed Martin Klizan.


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Source: AAP



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