ATP Washington: Nick Kyrgios saves match point to oust Stefanos Tsitsipas
In the first meeting between doubles partners Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Australian player saved a match point in the deciding tie break to prevail 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in two hours and seven minutes. Kyrgios is through to the ninth ATP final and the second of the season after Acapulco where he won the title, winning the same number of points as the top seed and prevailing in that thrilling tie break. As was expected, the entire encounter turned to be a showdown, with Kyrgios' regular tantrums with crowd and chair umpire and Tsitsipas who had troubles with his shoe on several occasion, staying neck and neck once Stefanos found the rhythm in set number two after being outplayed in the first 12 games. In the constellation you can't see more than once in ten or 15 years, they both served at 64% and won the identical number of points behind the first and second serve, with the only difference in break points, with Kyrgios saving six out of eight and Tsitsipas who fended off one out of three to set up that deciding tie break that had all elements of drama and excitement as well.
Nick was the better player in the opening set, dropping three points behind the initial shot and securing a break in game three with a booming forehand winner that gave him a considerable boost. Keeping the points on his racquet, the Aussie closed the set with a stunning smash winner in game ten for a 6-4 after 31 minutes. With the momentum on his side, Nick broke again at the beginning of the second set and the victory was clearly within his sight after hold in game two. Nonetheless, the Aussie allowed the crowd to break his rhythm with some small gestures, taking the thunder out of him and making him act like the worst person in the world, a painful situation for both his opponent, the chair umpire and the mentioned crowd that swiftly turned to the Greek's side.
Stefanos broke back in game four after a double fault from Nick, delivering another one in game six and securing the set with a service winner at 5-3 that sent them into a decider. There, Kyrgios fired two winners to repel break chances at 2-2, staying in touch and securing the tie break after a tight hold at 5-5. In the breaker, Nick raced into a 5-1 lead, only to drop the next five points, hitting a double fault at 5-3 and allowing Stefanos to create that match point with two winners. Kyrgios found a perfect serve to erase it, converting the second match point at 8-7 with a forehand winner that propelled him through and kept on the title course.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2YnIRHt
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