Nick Kyrgios has claimed his seventh career ATP singles title — and first in three years — by defeating Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka to win the ATP Citi Open final in Washington.
The 6-4 6-3 victory gave the 27-year-old Australian his second win at the event after he triumphed there in 2019 — his most recent singles title. Remarkably he did not drop serve in the entire tournament.
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Kyrgios is not finished in Washington either, he will back up for the men’s doubles final later on Monday morning (AEST) alongside American Jack Sock.
The Australian, who reached the Wimbledon singles final last month, is set to climb from 63rd to 37th in the ATP rankings and he shapes as a nightmare proposition for the top-ranked stars at the US Open starting later this month.
“It’s very emotional for me. To see where I was at last year to now it’s just an incredible transformation, ”said Kyrgios, who has opened up recently on his mental health battles.
“I just came out with great energy, I knew I had experience on my side today. I love this court, I’ve played so many great matches here so I’m just really really happy with it.
“I’ve been in some really dark places and just to be able to turn it around … there’s so many people that helped me get there but just myself, I’ve shown some serious strength to just persevere and continue and get through all those times and to still be able to perform.”
World number 63 Kyrgios fired 12 aces and 32 winners against four double faults and 20 unforced errors while taking 22 of 25 first-serve points to defeat Nishioka in 81 minutes.
Kyrgios improved to 4-0 against Nishioka, the most recent prior win coming in the third round of his 2019 Washington title run.
Nishioka netted a backhand to surrender a break in the opening game and Kyrgios denied the Asian southpaw’s lone break chance with a backhand winner in the sixth game, holding out to claim the first set with his seventh ace.
Kyrgios broke in the first game of the second set when Nishioka sent a forehand long and again in the final game when Nishioka netted a backhand on the Aussie’s third match point.
Nishioka, who captured his only ATP crown in 2018 at Shenzhen, hadn’t won a tour-level match since March until this week, when he upset eighth-ranked Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals. He will jump 42 spots to 54th in Monday’s world rankings.
“At the beginning of the year I had a nightmare,” Nishioka said. “I thought if I can’t make the top 50 again I will retire. Now I think maybe I can play a few more years.” Kyrgios will leap to 37th in the world rankings. He would have been 15th had world ranking points been awarded at Wimbledon.
In the women’s final, Liudmila Samsonova won her second career WTA title by beating Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Her first title for her came at last year’s German Open on Berlin grass.
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