(Washington) Nick Kyrgios, finalist of the last Wimbledon, qualified for the final of the Washington hard court tournament on Saturday, beating Sweden’s Mikael Ymer 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Posted yesterday at 9:16 p.m.
Australian, 63e world, will try to win a seventh title on the ATP circuit on Sunday, the last having been gleaned in this same event in 2019. It will be against the Russian Andrey Rublev (8e) or the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (96e).
The day after a day-marathon disrupted by rain and thunderstorms, which saw him successively dismiss Reilly Opelka in 8ethen Frances Tiafoe in the quarters after saving five match points, Kyrgios started his semi-final with a lot of unforced errors (18 in total).
But he ensured the essential by winning his service games. So much so that neither he nor Ymer left the other the slightest break point in this first set, which was resolved in the decisive game.
Moment at which the 27-year-old Australian, calmer and less talkative on the court than the previous days, raised his level of play, especially in return. He managed a first mini-break to lead 3-2, immediately erased by his opponent, then again regained the advantage 5-4 after a long rally.
This time he kept this advantage, winning the set on a serve and volley concluded in two stages by a smash.
In the second set, Kyrgios ended up finding the fault on the service of his young rival in 8e game, to break 5-3. Relying on an effective first serve at the right time, he folded the deal with a 10e ace, in 1h 36.
Accessing his second final of the season, he now has 26 wins in 2022 (7 losses), achieving his best season since 2018 then closed with a record of 26 wins and 14 losses.