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Nick Kyrgios has had a whirlwind 24 hours in Washington DC. Rainy conditions on Thursday night led to the suspension of play early in the second set of his last 16 match against Reilly Opelka at the Citi Open. The Australian then had to finish the contest against Opelka before taking on Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals on the same day.
Facing the fourth American player this week, Kyrgios had to battle hard to win 6-7(5), 7-6(12), 6-2 against Tiafoe, saving five match points in the process.
In his press conference after the win, the 27-year-old was asked about the atmosphere and how he saved match points against the home favorite.
"Yeah, look, I don't even think about it as match point or not. At the end of the day, if I lose, I lose. I'm going to shake that person's hand and say, "Too good." That's all I did. I put myself in a position to stay in the match, and I felt, my experience, he was getting the crowd up and involved early on. I wasted a little bit of energy early," Kyrgios said.
The weather in the US capital has been hot and humid this week and Kyrgios spoke about battling the conditions on the court.
"It's tough conditions out here. You lose a lot of fluids out here, and my serve towards the end kicked up to another gear. I felt like I had fresh legs at the end. Serving 130 in these conditions is pretty helpful. I'm really happy where I'm at," he added.
With his win against Tiafoe, Kyrgios moves onto the semifinals of the Citi Open, where he faces Mikael Ymer. The Australian also entered the doubles event alongside Jack Sock and is set to play in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
"This week has been difficult with rain & with just late matches, drug testing, everything" - Nick Kyrgios ahead of singles and doubles matches at Citi Open
Having already played back-to-back matches on Friday, Nick Kyrgios will have to do the same on Saturday. The Wimbledon 2022 finalist will play his singles semifinal against Mikael Ymer in the evening session and will then take part in the doubles quarterfinal against Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
When asked how he felt about the schedule, Kyrgios stated that he felt tired and that it was difficult for him due to the rain, late matches and the drug tests.
"Tired, obviously playing two matches again tomorrow, singles and then doubles afterwards. You know, this week has been difficult with rain and with just late matches, drug testing, everything. So it's been really tough to just get a good sleep," Kyrgios said.
The Aussie is slated to participate in Montreal next, where he'll face Sebastian Baez in the first round. He will also take part in the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati before moving on to the US Open later this month.
