Nick Kyrgios continued his dream run in Acapulco by ousting John Isner 7-5 5-7 7-6(7) to reach the Acapulco final.
The Australian went through another epic match to reach the final in Acapulco after outlasting Isner in 2 hours and 21 minutes.
In a match which had 49 aces in it, Kyrgios took a third match point to continue his dream run which has also included wins over Andreas Seppi, Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka.
In the final Kyrgios will now play Alexander Zverev who is yet to drop a set after beating Cameron Norrie 7-6(0) 6-3 in his semi-final.
The match didn’t lack moments of controversy with the Mexican crowd both cheering and booing Kyrgios, while Isner received some cheers of his own.
Before taking a break point on the fourth time of trying, Kyrgios appeared to have another dig at Nadal and his fans.
Most players prepare fro a break point against John Isner with intense focus and concentration.
Not Nick Kyrgios!
Kyrgios shouts "Where are the Rafa fans at? Hey Rafa fans, where you at?" and "Let's get a flight to Indian Wells."
(He won the break point, btw). pic.twitter.com/N7zywz49DF
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) March 2, 2019
After getting the break the world number 72 held to 30 to take the opening set in 43 minutes.
As you can imagine there wasn’t much separating these big servers as Isner looked to be more solid on serve in the second set.
On his third break point of the match, Isner took his opportunity and snatched the second set from the Aussie 7-5. For a third time this week Kyrgios would have to play a deciding set.
Despite both men having half-chances in the final set, no break points were created as Isner’s frustration became apparent as he struggled to read Kyrgios’ serve.
The last set tiebreak saw the unpredictable Australian strike first to get the first mini-break at 3-1. But that didn’t last long as Isner ensured he pushed Kyrgios into a more conservative approach as he was pumped to get the mini-break back for 3-4.
After being really nervy on match point on his own serve, a moment of magic saw Kyrgios win a point on Isner’s serve to take the match and seal his place in the final.
After the match Kyrgios once again heaped praise on the crowd, “It’s insane one point their cheering me and one point their booing me,” Kyrgios told The Tennis Channel.
“We just put on another great performance tonight, John (Isner) is a great friend of mine. It’s tough playing him over the last seasons he’s achieved so much. I just had to take care of my serve.”
Tomorrow will be Kyrgios’ first final since winning the Brisbane title last January and will face Alexander Zverev who is yet to drop a set this week.
The German overcame Cameron Norrie 7-6(0) 6-3 to reach the final in Acapulco and is looking to claim his first title of the season.
Regardless of tomorrow’s result, Kyrgios will enter the top 40 again and as long as he can stay fit will be a threat to anyone on the tour.
