Nick Kyrgios Wins Citi Open Title over Daniil Medvedev

(August 4, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. – Unseeded Nick Kyrgios beat third seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6(6), 7-6(4) to win the Citi Open title in Washington, D. C. on Sunday at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center. It’s the Australian’s sixth ATP Tour title, second this year – he also won the trophy in Acapulco in March.

The 24-year-old Aussie overcame what appeared to be a back problem, along with beating the Russian, currently ranked No. 10, who leads the tour in match wins on a hardcourt this year.

“I think at 2-All, I started having some back spasms in the right part of my back, but the doctor came on, took some painkillers,” Kyrgios said. “You know, and the physio has been a great help all week managing some of the niggles I’ve had.

“But just something I had to deal with, one other thing I had to deal with this week. But I dug deep and it could have easily been Daniil in this position. The match was super close and obviously just happened to get through that first set was massive.

“But as a whole, this week has been amazing. It’s been a real — definitely an experience I won’t ever forget.”

Neither man had his serve broken or even reached a break point.

Kyrgios is now 5-1 against Top 10 players this year. Currently ranked 52, he’ll return to the Top 30 when the rankings come out on Monday. Medvedev will move up to No. 9 in the world.

“This has honestly been one of my favorite weeks of my life. I’ve made massive strides,” Kyrgios said during his acceptance speech. “I started becoming friends with the smoothie guy, he knew what smoothie I wanted. I was playing ping pong with some kids before I’m playing. You guys were amazing. It was honestly a week to remember.”

 “We all know how well Nick can play when he wants to. This week he wanted to play, and he was tough,” Medvedev said on court.

“He was determined and it seemed like he wants to win,” the Russian said to media. “And that’s what we don’t see all the time, and that’s why he played good this week.”

“Just two tiebreaks, zero breakpoints. And he managed to be better on the tiebreaks today. I did some few mistakes that I shouldn’t have done, and he didn’t do it, and that’s why he won.”

“Super proud,” sad Kyrgios of his week and of his progress. “As I said, I haven’t played many matches this last couple months. Especially just looking back on some of the places I’ve been the last six months, it’s crazy to think how much I’ve turned it around.

“And I’ve just been working really hard, on and off the court, to try and be better as a person and as a tennis player. And as I said, I wasn’t exaggerating. This has been one of the best weeks of my life, not just on the court but in general. I feel like I’ve made major strides.

“And I’m just going to take it one day at a time and hopefully I can continue on this new path.”

“It started off the court, honestly. A lot of habits needed to change. I’m not going to go into it with a lot of detail, but I just had a lot of unhealthy habits, and it was starting to show on the tennis court. It was too up and down. It wasn’t healthy. So I just needed to change a lot of things.

“And as I said, this is only the beginning. I’m going to continue to go through with these habits. And at the same time, I’m trying not to change myself. You know, playing ping-pong with kids before I play. I don’t want to lose sight of who I am. I want to continue to have fun on court and be the entertainer I am. But it’s a day-by-day process.”

Kyrgios and Medvedev head to Canada to play Rogers Cup in Montreal. The luck of the draw has the Aussie playing Kyle Edmund in the first round. Should Kyrgios win, he’s play Medvedev in the second round.

Medvedev was asked about the Montreal draw and said jokingly: “Well, as I say, it’s never easy to play Nick. I hope Kyle wins, as easy as this.”