Stan Wawrinka won the first semifinal of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Tournament when Nick Kyrgios was forced to retire with a back injury as the Swiss player was leading 6-4 3-0. The first 13 games were marked by seven breaks of serve. Wawrinka pulled away to 4-1 and broke serve five times to build up a 6-4 3-0 when Kyrgios decided to call it a day with a back injury.
Kyrgios trailed 15-40 on his serve in the first game but he saved two break points with two aces. He fired a third ace to save the third break point chance and hold his service game. Kyrgios was under pressure again in the third game when he was broken to trail 1-2 after a forehand wide and a double fault.
Wawrinka held his service game with two aces before getting a double break to 15 to take a 4-1 lead. Kyrgios pulled back the first of the two breaks in the sixth game before holding his serve with his fifth ace to claw his way back to 3-4. After the seventh game Kyrgios received treatment on his back. The Australian player seemed to be moving better after a four-minute break.
A trade of breaks followed in the next two games. Wawrinka saved two break points but Kyrgios converted his third break point chance to draw level to 4-4 after recovering from 0-40 down. Wawrinka broke serve in the next game to take a 5-4 lead. From 4-4 Wawrinka won a streak of five consecutive games to build up a 6-4 3-0 lead thanks to a double break in the first and the third games of the second set. After dropping serve to love in the third game of the second set Kyrgios was forced to retire from the match with a back problem.
Wawrinka will face the winner of the second semifinal between Feliciano Lopez and Marcos Baghdatis in the final tomorrow afternoon.
Wawrinka will play his second final of the year after winning in Chennai last January. Wawrinka is bidding to clinch his 13th ATP title in his career.
“I feel that I have not reached my best level. There is one more match to play my best tennis. If you look from the beginning of the week, I was not playing great at all. I was trying to find a way. That’s when I can still improve and I am happy I did this week, not playing some great tennis. I was frustrated during the matches but I was still fighting and trying to find solutions to win more matches during the week to play better. I started to feel a way better already yesterday. I am starting to feel better. I know what to expect. I am moving better. I am a little bt more relaxed and my strokes are going better. Nick wasn’t there from the beginning. He wasn’t serving his best. You never know what to expect, as you see when he broke me back at 3-4 he was playing really well. That’s why I was focused on myself. I wasn’t expecting anything. I was trying to play my game, to stay tough and try to win every point”, said Wawrinka.
