Roger Federer beat Australia's Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (11/9), 6-7 (9/11), 7-6 (7/5) in a thriller on Friday to set up a mouth-watering Miami Open final against Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer
Ecstatic Roger Federer after defeating Australia's Nick Kyrgios on Friday. Pic/AFP
Miami: Roger Federer beat Australia's Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (11/9), 6-7 (9/11), 7-6 (7/5) in a thriller on Friday to set up a mouth-watering Miami Open final against Rafael Nadal.
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Federer and Kyrgios produced an extraordinary range of shots in an enthralling, fiercely intense semi-final that kept a capacity crowd at Key Biscayne on the edge of their seats for the entire three hours and 10 minutes.
Kyrgios furious
When Federer won the third tie-break a furious Kyrgios hammered his racquet into the ground three times as the frustration of a remarkable near-miss came flooding out.
The Australian's big serve, touching 140 mph at times, delivered 14 aces, but Kyrgios also hit some spectacular winners and played his part in a series of stirring rallies.
But Federer was a match for most that came his way and was able to avenge his loss to Kyrgios from two years ago in Madrid also in a match which was decided by three tie-breaks.
Nick booed
Kyrgios broke in the first set to go 4-3 up but Federer, with the loud crowd behind him, broke back to level at 5-5 when the Australian missed with an attempted big return. The big-hitting Kyrgios was frequently booed by the crowd for racquet throwing and language - and sometimes for very little - but appeared to be enjoying the role of pantomime villain.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal marched into the final with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Italian Fabio Fognini.
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