Kyrgios ousts top seed Tsitsipas to reach Washington final

Australia's Nick Kyrgios overcame a mid-match meltdown and his rival's shoe repair delays 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 fire and apathy -
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"It felt like sometimes he didn't care at all. It's probably his plan to put you out of focus."
Kyrgios admitted, "I've always been able to play high level tennis. I just need to be more consistent. I have to be mentally tougher."
"I don't look at any of that stuff."
"I haven't seen anything like it."
- 'Shoe-pocalypse' hits -
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"By the way, Adidas sucks."
"That was funny," Tsitsipas said. Sometimes you can't take anything serious. You have to go with the flow. You have to have the same channel and same fun as he is."