Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios, seeking his first title in three years, advanced to the men’s ATP and WTA finals at the Washington Open with a tight win over Sweden’s Mikael Ymer.
Australia’s 63rd-ranked Kyrgios eased past 115th-ranked Ymer 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 and will play for the crown on Sunday against the eventual winner between top seed Andrey Rublev and Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, 96th.
Kyrgios, who won the last of his six ATP titles in Washington in 2019, has a 2-1 record against Rublev and a 3-0 record against Nishioka.
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Nick Kyrgios celebrates the win. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“I didn’t get to sleep until 4.50 in the morning, I just had so much adrenaline after (Tiafoe’s win),” Kyrgios said.
“I got treatment and my body was really sore after last night. It was an epic battle.
“I didn’t do much today but I felt my energy was a little flat at the start of today and that’s understandable, I’m only human.
“My adrenaline for the final will be right there and I’m really excited about that. Got doubles tonight, working on my returns a bit. I came back pretty bad tonight, I’m not going to lie, so hopefully I can step it up a little bit tonight.”
Kyrgios then backed it up to book a place in the doubles final soon after alongside American Jack Sock, claiming two wins in the space of around five hours.
Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, who is trying to end a nine-year WTA title drought at the age of 37, and Liudmila Samsonova, 60, will meet in the US Open women’s final.
World number 37 Kanepi eliminated Australia’s Daria Saville 6-3 6-1 in 73 minutes, while Samsonova defeated China’s Wang Xiyu 6-1 6-1 in 67 minutes.
Kyrgios won the last three points in the first-set tiebreaker, and Ymer sent a forehand long to end a strong rally before Kyrgios added a service winner and a forehand.
Ymer, who lost his only ATP final last August in Winston-Salem, missed a forehand volley in the third game of the second set to miss a break point opportunity.
Kyrgios had the first break points of the match in the eighth game and converted his third chance with a forehand winner to break for a 5-3 lead, then held the match after 94 minutes with the his 10th ace
The Australian fired 28 winners with just 15 unforced errors and dropped just four points on his second serve.
Nick Kyrgios returns a shot. Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFPSSource: AFP
Rublev is seeking his 12th career crown and fourth title of the season after Marseille, Dubai and Belgrade as he hopes to challenge Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz for the most ATP trophies this year .
Nishioka, in his first ATP semifinal since 2020 in Delray Beach, won his only ATP title in 2018 in Shenzhen.
Nishioka and Rublev split two previous meetings, with Nishioka winning in Sydney in 2019 and Rublev at last year’s ATP Cup.
Kanepi is seeking her fifth career WTA title, but her first since the Brussels Open in 2013. She won her only WTA hard court title in Brisbane in 2012.
In her first WTA final since a 2021 Australian Open tune-up in Melbourne, Kanepi dominated Saville’s first WTA semifinal since 2018 in Acapulco.
“I played my best game,” Kanepi said. “Everything went really well for me. I hit a lot of lines.”
Kyrgios wins hearts with gift for fan | 00:37
Kanepi reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final since 2017 at this year’s Australian Open and credited it with a confidence boost crucial to his success this year.
“It was amazing,” he said. “I never thought I’d make the quarters in Australia. I thought it just wasn’t my place. But I played really well, and then I just kept playing well. I didn’t really put any pressure on myself to do something special.”
Samsonova, 23, won their only meeting with Kanepi in the first round last year at Wimbledon. Samsonova reaches her first WTA hard court final, having won her only tour final prior to last year’s German Open.