Nick Kyrgios secured his spot in the Citi Open 2022 final after beating Sweden’s Mikael Ymer in the semifinal. It will be his 11th career final since making his professional debut in 2012. Showing a dominant display since the beginning of the game, Kyrgios went on to straight set wins 7-6 and 6-3.
This is Kyrgios’ second final in 2022 after this year’s Wimbledon final when he lost to the defending champion Novak Djokovic in All England Club, London.
Prior to these two finals in less than a month, he had not reached the final in three years. That loss against Djokovic was the last defeat Kyrgios has suffered before going on a dominant 10-winning streak up to the Citi Open final.
Despite having managed to reach his two finals in the last two tournaments, Kyrgios admitted that he was in his best form. He said that some aspects of his game have a lot to improve.
“Honestly I didn’t play anywhere near my best tennis today,” Kyrgios told The Guardian after the match. “The past couple of matches I’ve been on paper, rankings-wise the underdog, but today I definitely felt like the favorite.”
“I served pretty solid. Obviously my winning percentage behind my first serve would have been high, but from the back of the court I didn’t play well at all,” he continued.
Kyrgios also admitted that Ymer surprised him during the game. The Canberra-born player said that the Swedish youngster is good at speed, saying that he would learn from this game when they face each other again in the future.
“The difference was he stands on the fast and he makes you play that extra ball. He’s an incredible athlete and I really wasn’t expecting him to be that fast,” Kyrgios said of his rival.
“Maybe next time I might have a couple different tactics when I play him, maybe not to try and out rally him, maybe come forward a little bit more. But it was a tough-fought semi-final. I’m just happy to be in another final.
Exhausting quarterfinal
Kyrgios only hit 10 aces against Ymer, compared with the 35 thunderbolts he sent down against Tiafoe in the quarter-final game. He said that the quarterfinal game exhausted him a lot, but it was good enough for the Australian no.1 to earn the victory.
“It was an epic battle (against Tiafoe). I didn’t really do much today and I felt like my energy was a little flat today early on,” Kyrgios said.
“It’s understandable – I’m only human – but my adrenaline for the final is going to be right there. I’m super excited for it.”
By stepping into the final in Citi Open, Kyrgios will guarantee a rank rise to at least No.42 in the world. He is also projected to climb up to the 37th if he wins the final, adding his pro titles into seven.
With big events coming up in Montreal and Cincinnati, he still has time to secure an all-important seeding in the US Open.
The Citi Open was the latest ATP title that Kyrgios has won, winning it back in 2019. This year, he will have another chance to win it for the second time by playing against either Russia’s Andrey Rublev or Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan.