Nick Kyrgios saves 5 match points to win late-night quarterfinal thriller in Washington, D.C.

Nick Kyrgios won an absolute thriller against Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals of Washington, D.C. on Friday night, fighting off an incredible five match points to prevail, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (12), 6-2, and reach his fifth semifinal in his last six tournaments.

After coming so close to taking the first set—he led 5-2 in the tie-break before Tiafoe reeled off the last five points in a row—Kyrgios went right back to work from the start of the second set, trading holds with the American until the two headed to another tie-break.

And it was in that second set tie-break where the tension reached its height, with Tiafoe bringing up a total of five match points leading 6-5, 8-7, 10-9, 11-10 and 12-11—but Kyrgios saved them all, including three with winners (an ace at 6-5, a scorching backhand down-the-line winner at 8-7 and a drop shot at 12-11), and he eventually converted his own fourth set point when Tiafoe misfired an inside out forehand wide after an extended rally.

With the second set in his pocket, Kyrgios took it to another level in the decider, getting the first break of the match in the very first game for 1-0, eventually getting another break for 5-2 and serving it out at love to seal the victory after two hours and 29 minutes.

The match was of such high quality that both players ended up with more than twice as many winners as unforced errors—Kyrgios had almost three times as many, finishing the match with 55 winners (including 35 aces) to just 20 unforced errors.

Tiafoe, meanwhile, had 29 winners (including 14 aces) to 14 unforced errors.

Kyrgios’ late-night battle against Tiafoe wasn’t even his first match of the day—he had to complete a rain-suspended 7-6 (1), 6-2 third-round victory over American Reilly Opelka earlier in the day, which had been stopped the day before at a set and 2-1.

The Australian has now reached the semifinals or better at five of his last six tournaments, a stretch that dates back to the start of the clay-court season in April.

KYRGIOS’ RESULTS IN 2022:
~ 2nd Rd of Australian Open (l. to Medvedev, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2)
~ QFs of Indian Wells (l. to Nadal, 7-6 (0), 5-7, 6-4)
~ 4th Rd of Miami (l. to Sinner, 7-6 (3), 6-3)
~ SFs of Houston (l. to Opelka, 6-3, 7-5)
~ SFs of Stuttgart (l. to Murray, 7-6 (5), 6-2)
~ SFs of Halle (l. to Hurkacz, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4))
~ 2nd Rd of Mallorca (w/o to Bautista Agut w/abdominal injury)
~ F at Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3))
~ SFs of Washington, D.C. (playing Ymer next)

Kyrgios was ranked No. 94 going into Houston, before this run of of five semifinals in six tournaments, and he was No. 63 coming into Washington, D.C.—he’s currently up to No. 50 on the ATP live rankings after reaching the semifinals, would be just outside the Top 40 by reaching the final and just inside the Top 40 should he go on to win the title.

But before looking too far ahead, he’ll face Mikael Ymer in the semifinals on Saturday, a first-time meeting against the No. 115-ranked Swede.