Kyrgios ousts Tsitsipas to reach Washington final

WASHINGTON: Australia’s Nick Kyrgios overcame a mid-match meltdown and his rival’s shoe repair delays Saturday to defeat Greek top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and reach the ATP Washington Open final.

The 52nd-ranked Aussie hammered 19 aces, saved a match point and often played to the crowd in a dramatic and emotional 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Tsitsipas, whose broken shoes caused two third-set delays.

Tsitsipas, who becomes world number five on Monday, fell behind a set and a break, took advantage of Kyrgios losing control with racquet slams and call complaints to force a third set, only to fall in the tie-breaker.

“It was spiraling out of control at one point,” Kyrgios said. “I’ve been in that spot before and it has gotten worse. “I’m pretty proud at how I was able to drag it back from a dark place. I’m pretty proud of how I battled back and dug deep.”

Kyrgios will play for the $365,390 (328,851 euro) top prize against 10th-ranked Russian Daniil Medvedev, who eliminated German lucky loser Peter Gojowczyk 6-2, 6-2. The 24-year-old Aussie beat Medvedev this year in Rome in their only prior meeting.

Kyrgios, who improved to 4-1 against top-10 rivals this year, seeks a sixth career ATP title and his first since Acapulco in March. “It’s probably one of the best tournament weeks of my life,” Kyrgios said.

Medvedev, 23, seeks his fifth ATP title after taking his most recent crown at Sofia in February. Italy’s 62nd-ranked Camila Giorgi, a 2018 Wimbledon quarter-finalist seeking her third WTA title, and 79th-ranked American Jessica Pegula advanced to the women’s final at the US Open tuneup tournament.

Tsitsipas, who said he had a sore hamstring, suffered a broken left shoe for a fourth consecutive match, switching Adidas pairs on a changeover with Kyrgios up 2-1.

A ballboy delivered a shoebox with the faulty footwear to Tsitsipas’s father/coach, Apostolos Tsitsipas, in the stands. But it was Kyrgios, waiting through a delay that would last four minutes, who took the shoebox from the far corner of the court. Kyrgios delivered it to a seated Tsitsipas as the crowd roared with laughter.