Tennis world erupts over Nick Kyrgios act after Washington triumph

Nick Kyrgios has won over the tennis world with a brilliant victory speech after claiming the title at the Citi Open in Washington.

The Aussie star continued his sparkling form in the lead-up to the US Open, beating Yoshihito Nishioka in Sunday's final 6-4 6-3.

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It marked Kyrgios' seventh career ATP title and his first in three years, coming just weeks after his extraordinary run to the Wimbledon final where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

It also made Kyrgios the first Australian in history to win multiple titles in the American capital.

The Aussie paid a classy tribute to Nishioka after the match after the Japanese 26-year-old admitted in his runner-up speech that he'd considered retiring earlier this year.

"I just want to congratulate Yoshi on an amazing week, you beat quality players every single round," Kyrgios said.

"You deserve to be here and I would never want to see a talented player like you retire.

"We've known each other since 14 and you've grown into a hell of a player."

Kyrgios then referenced his victory with a cheeky quip, saying: "I hope you continue to play and reach many more finals, but let's keep the record the same."

Kyrgios also had the crowd laughing again when he thanked the umpires, saying: "The relationship is still rocky with the umpires but I just want to say thank you to everyone.

He also thanked the 'ball kids' before realising they weren't really kids, correcting himself to say "the ball women and men too" with a laugh.

Fans were full of praise for Kyrgios' classy victory speech, as well as his historic triumph in Washington.

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Kyrgios won his previous ATP title at Washington in 2019, while Nishioka captured his only ATP crown in 2018 at Shenzhen.

The 27-year-old Aussie is now 4-0 against his Japanese opponent and also beat him in the third round of his Washington title run in 2019.

Kyrgios, who lost to Djokovic in four sets in the Wimbledon final last month, made back-to-back tour-level finals for the first time in his career and didn't have his serve broken the entire week.

Nishioka hadn't won a tour-level match since March until earlier this week.

Having reached his maiden grand slam final at Wimbledon, Kyrgios is seemingly on track to secure an all-important seeding for the US Open starting on August 29 in New York.

There are also big events in Montreal and Cincinnati before the final grand slam of the year at Flushing Meadows.

“It’s very emotional for me. To see where I was at last year to now it’s just an incredible transformation,” Kyrgios also said in an on-court interview.

“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.”

It was double delight for Kyrgios on Sunday after he teamed up with Jack Sock to win the doubles title as well.

with agencies

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