Washington: Nick Kyrgios said he is playing “one of the best tournament weeks of my life” as he produced an entertaining display to defeat top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and reach the Washington Open final.
For a second successive match, Kyrgios asked a spectator where to serve on match point as he closed out to win 6-4 3-6 7-6 (9-7), having earlier helped to deliver new shoes to his opponent.
The 24-year-old Australian collected a bag from the stands before kneeling to present it to Tsitsipas, much to the amusement of the Greek and the crowd.
“This week has been awesome. I’ve really enjoyed myself,” said Kyrgios, who will play Russian Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final (22:00 BST).
“I’m just doing the right things. I’m having the same routine every day. I’m trying to improve on a lot of little habits, and it’s paying off. Five days in a row competing, I’m pretty happy with myself.”
On seeking advice from the crowd, the world number 52 added: “I feel like it’s very easy when someone just tells you where to serve. I feel like you just go all in on that spot. That’s all you’re focusing on. It’s worked two days in a row. Hopefully I get the chance to do it tomorrow.”
Kyrgios, contesting a first singles tournament since losing a fiery second round encounter to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, survived a second set dip which saw him slam his racquet in anger.
But, treating onlookers to between-the-legs shots and under-arm serves, he was able to see the funny side of Tsitsipas’ shoe malfunction and returned to his swashbuckling best in the third set.
“I’m pretty happy with myself the way I tried to drag it back from a dark place,” said Kyrgios – who ran to high-five the spectator after the match.
“I just left it all out there and gave myself a chance to win the match. I’m pretty happy the way I somehow just battled in and dug deep.”
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