Australia’s Nick Kyrgios punched his ticket to the Atlanta Open final Saturday by ending the remarkable run of young upstart Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Playing in humid conditions, second seeded Kyrgios blasted 16 aces to win the semi-final match over the 20-year-old Japanese rising star in 96 minutes.
Kyrgios advances to his third ATP Tour final of his career where he will face top seed John Isner who defeated teenage wild card Reilly Opelka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
“It was a hot and humid day,” Kyrgios said. “Yoshi is a great player and makes you play a lot of balls and a lot of rallies. I came out strong (in the third set) and that shows good fighting spirit.”
“It feels good. I knew at the start of the week that I could get this far. It’s not really surprising, but it’s for rewarding for sure.”
Nishioka, 20, played a strong second set to level the match before Kyrgios clinch the win in the third set. It was Nishioka’s first semi-final of his career and ended his run of three straight wins in Atlanta.
He upset fourth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
“I think I played very well, but he has a great serve,” Nishioka said of Kyrgios. “He has a great second serve and I didn’t have many chances to break. I couldn’t put pressure on his first serves either.”
In one of the tallest matches ATP men’s tennis history, the 2.08 meter (6-foot-10) Isner beat fellow American Opelka, who stands 2.11 meters.
The 31-year-old Isner has now reached the Atlanta final six times in seven appearances.
“I wish we could play every week in Atlanta,” Isner said. “I think I’d be No.1 in the world.”
Isner hammered 22 aces while the 18-year-old Opelka, who is ranked 837 in the world, finished with four double faults and 15 aces.