ATP Washington: Nick Kyrgios edges Daniil Medvedev to wrap up title
Back in March, world no. 72 Nick Kyrgios saved three match points against Rafael Nadal in Acapulco and defeated Stan Wawrinka, John Isner and Alexander Zverev to grab the title that pretty much came out of nowhere. Nick barely won a match after that and obviously waited for another ATP 500 event on the hard court to show his best tennis again, defeating six rivals to go all the way in Washington and collect the sixth ATP trophy. In the thrilling semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday, Kyrgios saved the match point in the deciding tie break to set Daniil Medvedev clash for the title, overpowering the Russian 7-6, 7-6 victory in an hour and 34 minutes, saving a set point in the first set and overcoming back pain to cross the finish line first and complete one of the favorite weeks of his life.
With no tantrums and usual scenes in his encounters, Nick lost 16 points on serve and never faced break chances just like Medvedev, hitting 32 winners and 19 unforced errors against the Russian's 29-14 ratio, as nothing could have separated them before the tie breaks. As the numbers suggest, the serve was the primary weapon on both sides, with no extended rallies or any opportunity for the returners at all after no deuces or prolonged action in any of the 24 regular games. Daniil had everything in his hands in the first tie break, leading 5-2 and creating a set point with a service winner at 5-5, only to be denied by two winners from Kyrgios who closed the set in the 14th point after a costly forehand error from Medvedev. The second set saw nothing new, with 12 powerful holds on both sides for yet another tie break, a must-win one for world no. 10. At 3-4, Daniil sent a forehand long and Nick sealed the deal with two service winners, asking someone in the crowd where to serve at 6-4 and blasting an ace to finish the job and leave Washington with the trophy in his hands.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ZCwCUk
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