Kyrgios catches finals fever with his second on the trot

Nick Kyrgios has burst into form this summer, with the Australian booking into his second straight final through success at the ATP Washington event.

Last month’s Wimbledon runner-up to Novak Djokovic, carried on with his momentum with a semi-final defeat of Swede Mikael Ymer 7-6(4), 6-3.

He will compete on Sunday in his second final at the 500 event in the US capital  when he faces Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, whom he has defeated in three previous meetings.

The left-hander booked his spot 6-3, 6-4 over Andrey Rublev.

Kyrgios is showing that his self-fuelled dedication to the sport can pay big dividends.

“Honestly I didn’t play anywhere near my best tennis today,” the No. 63 said.

“Today I definitely felt like the favourite. I served pretty solid. But from the back of the court I didn’t play well at all.”

 Kyrgos threw down 10 aces against the 115th-ranked Ymer and never faced a break point over 96 minutes in the heat and humidity of Washington.

But the Swede surprised his Aussie opponent despite taking the loss.

“He’s an incredible athlete, I really wasn’t expecting him to be that fast,” Kyrgios said. 

“Maybe (it’s best) not to try and out rally him, maybe come forward a little bit more. It was a tough-fought semi-final and I’m just happy to be in the final once again.”

Former No. 16 Kyrgios has already lifted his ranking to 42 and could reach 27 – and get close to a US Open seeding – with a title victory Sunday evening.

Bill Scott

Recent Posts

Halep seething over Swiatek wrist-slap doping penalty

Doping sanction victim Simona Halep has gone online to protest her own treatment by anti-doping…

3 weeks ago

Nadal goes down in final match

Rafael Nadal lined up for what was to be the final match of his career…

1 month ago

Sinner flattens de Minaur in runaway home start

Jannik Sinner took charge in front of his home crowd on Sunday, crushing ATP Finals…

1 month ago

Madcap Medvedev suffers temperamental Turin Finals loss

Daniil Medvedev went into meltdown mode on Sunday during a highly charged 6-4, 6-3 loss, with opponent…

1 month ago

Team Sinner considering skipping Monte Carlo

Jannik Sinner could well be missing from the opening European clay event of next season…

1 month ago

Davis Cup Final to mark Nadal goodbye to tennis

Rafael Nadal will bring down the curtain on his career next month as he plays his…

2 months ago