A rollercoaster ride at the Nick Kyrgios Show

MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2019 themercury.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS 1300 696 397 NICK Kyrgios hammed it up by delivering a repaired sneaker to his opponent, No. 1-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas.

He celebrated one key shot with a shimmy. He marked the last point by shaking a fan’s hand.

The Nick Kyrgios Experience was in full effect at the Citi Open in Washington, DC yesterday. And he played quite well too, hitting 19 aces, saving a match point and edging Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in a semi-final about as even as can be and filled with all manner of memorable moments.

How close was it? Each man took a total of 91 points. Each won 48 of his 58 first-serve points; each won 16 of his 33 second-serve points; each won 27 return points.

“Nick, in my opinion, is underrated. I guess the rivalry between me and him — it looks bright,” Tsitsipas said.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to face each other plenty of times in the future.”

Kyrgios said of Tsitsipas: “He fully deserved to win, as well.”

The 52nd-ranked Kyrgios will seek his sixth ATP title today when he faces No.3 seed Daniil Medvedev in the final.

Medvedev advanced with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Peter Gojowczyk.

That match was a snoozer compared with Kyrgios v Tsitsipas, which featured fantastic shotmaking by two players in their early 20s.

Kyrgios and Tsitsipas had never faced each other and, in the past, they have had their differences. But the duo played doubles together in Washington last week and apparently hit it off.

Kyrgios is most definitely a showman, someone who does the sorts of things few, if any, other tennis players do, for better or for worse.

“Some people love him. Some people hate him. I believe we need people like him in the game,” Tsitsipas said.

“Otherwise, everything becomes too serious. He’s fun.”