Finalists Reaching for Greatness at Sunday Citi Open Finale
Steve Fogleman in Washington
Three finals are on tap at Citi Open in Washington today after somewhat surprising Saturday action brought us to this conclusion. Wild card Nick Kyrgios advanced to today’s final with a 7-6(4), 6-3 takedown of Mikael Ymer of Sweden.
He’s had a good run in Washington but didn’t want to get ahead of himself contemplating a title or two as he and partner Jack Sock advanced to the doubles final.
“Regardless of how tomorrow goes in both finals, I think it’s a hell of an achievement,” he said. “In one week I think to make both finals is pretty special. You know, I’m super excited. It’s been a minute since I have played in a final, Wimbledon final, so, you know, I’m gonna just try and turn it around and get a win tomorrow. I’m just super proud of the work I have put in.”
The Curious Case of Yoshihito Nishioka continues in Washington with consistent deft play. On Saturday night, he came out fast while Rublev was rusty in the first set. The second set saw Rublev give up four breaks of serve to Nishioka and #96 moved on over world #8 Rublev, 6-3, 6-4.
Kaia Kanepi raced out to a 3-0 lead within eight minutes of “Ready, Play!” and she dominated Daria Saville in the first women’s semifinal yesterday, 6-3, 6-1 in 1:13. Saville needed a medical timeout late in the first set and never had a chance to establish any rhythm in the match as Kanepi overpowered her and dominated the pace,
I would expect Kanepi to attempt a similar start today against Liudmila Samsonova. Both of the women’s semifinals were disappointingly uncompetitive yesterday. Samsonova’s semifinal victory was a 6-1, 6-1 exhibition against an out-of-sorts lucky loser Xiyu Wang in 1:07. Wang was the only women’s semifinalist who had not yet played a match on Stadium court and it showed. Still, it was a very good week for Wang, and for Daria Saville as well.
Here’s to today’s Citi Open champions and I’ll see you in Cincinnati.
Tennis Atlantic 