Kyrgios concludes match, poised for more at steamy Citi Open

WASHINGTON (AP), Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios fought six match points against Frances Tiafoe in a second-set tiebreaker. He then raced past Tiafoe in the third set to win 6-7 (5) and 7-6 (12), 6-2 at Friday's Citi Open.

The first ever meeting between the players saw Kyrgios allow the first set to slip with some mental lapses. He then frustrated Tiafoe during a long second-set tiebreak that ended with the Maryland native smashing his racket onto court and kick it.

"Frances put himself into every position to win this match. I didn't think too much in those moments. "I was just trying to keep in the match and I succeeded," Kyrgios stated. "Then, you'll know, I felt physically fresh in the third set, and served well."

The Washington U.S. Open is Kyrgios' first tournament since losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. The mercurial Australian has improved his match record to 21-7 this year and will now face Mikael Yamer, a 6-2 5-7, 6-3 winner over Sebastian Korda.

Kyrgios won the ATP title at Washington in 2019.

Due to weather delays, Andrey Rublev, the top-seeded player, played two matches on Friday. He won both. He won a second-set tiebreak and beat Maxime Cressy 6-4 (7-6 (8)) in the afternoon. Then he defeated American wild card J.J. Wolf 6-2 (6-3) in the evening to reach semifinals.

It's part and parcel of the sport. Rublev stated that Rublev believes that that's what makes it so exciting, because you never know what you'll get. "Suddenly, you will have two matches within one day."

Rublev is aiming for his fourth ATP title in this year's tournament, which would see him join Rafael Nadal or Carlos Alcaraz for the most titles in 2022.

The Russian will face Yoshihito Nishioka (96th), who defeated Daniel Evans 7-6 (5). Kyrgios had to also finish his round-of-16 match Friday afternoon, but only needed 14 minutes to win his 7-6 (1) and 6-2 victory over Reilly Opelka.

"Playing Reilly in the heat this morning was not an ideal situation. I came out strong and fast, and got it done. Kyrgios stated that after that, he was able to rest and then pull through. "Amazing match with Frances. It was going to be crazy. "I'm glad today is over and I can rest."

U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu, who was beaten by Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(6), 6-1, failed to reach her first semifinal.

Fourth-seeded veteran Victoria Azarenka lost her second match of day 6-1, 6-3 against 95th-ranked Xiyu Zhang. Azarenka had to endure an 80-minute first set in order to beat Tereza Martcova 7-6 (7), which she had played 6-2 earlier Friday.

World No. Australia's 88 Daria Saville defeated Rebecca Marino 6-1 and 7-5 to reach the semifinals. Kaia Kanepi, sixth seed, defeated Anna Kalinskaya, 6-4 and 6-3 in a match that lasted two hours, 33 minutes.