Crowd favourite Kyrgios turns it on to reach Brisbane semis

NICK KYRGIOS turned on the style in time to beat Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov and set up a semi-final against top seed and holder Grigor Dimitrov at the Brisbane International yesterday.

The mercurial Australian

huffed and puffed in a miserable first set but eventually found some rhythm to come through a tricky encounter 1-6 6-3 6-4.

Bulgarian Dimitrov also had to battle hard against Britain’s Kyle Edmund, winning 6-3 6-7(3) 6-4 in two hours and 23 minutes at the Pat Rafter Arena.

Kyrgios, who will be under the home spotlight at this month’s Australian Open, made 36 unforced errors against Dolgopolov but there were 27 winners too.

“As bad as it is to say, it’s kind of like a tap. I can turn it on when I want to,” the third seed told reporters.

“I’m feeling pretty good. I’m hitting the ball well and I’m serving really well. So the first two matches of the year, I’ve got through two tough three-setters,” added Kyrgios, who beat compatriot Matthew Ebdon 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-2 in the second round.

“The only positive I can say about losing that first set (against Dolgopolov) is I’m putting myself in some pressure situations and getting some more court time out there which is good... I’ve got to try and maintain as much energy as I can.”

Dimitrov was in control against Edmund as he took the first set but was dragged into a second-set tiebreak which the Briton edged to set up the decider.

Dimitrov, who survived two match points to beat local hope John Millman in the previous round, needed a solitary break to close out the match.

Kyrgios was joined in the last four by fellow Australian Alex De Minaur as the teenager followed up his win over Milos Raonic by beating American qualifier Michael Mmoh 6-4 6-0.

De Minaur will play unseeded American Ryan Harrison for a place in the final. Harrison was leading 7-6(6) 4-2 when Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin retired from the contest.

● Czech defending champion Katerina Siniakova fended off Maria Sharapova in a fiercely contested match at the Shenzhen Open yesterday to set up a final with world number one Simona Halep.

Siniakova fired 27 winners and 10 aces to prevail 6-2 3-6 6-3 but was made to work hard for the win after Russian Sharapova rediscovered her rhythm midway through the contest.

After losing the first set, Sharapova attacked Siniakova’s serve to seal an early break in the second set.

The five-times grand slam champion gave little away after that and levelled the contest at one set apiece.

A stinging backhand down the line gave Siniakova a decisive break in the final set and the sixth seed hung on to close out the match in just under two hours.

Halep beat fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 6-4 in one hour 29 minutes to claim a second career final spot at Shenzhen.

● Elina Svitolina switched gears after a poor start to knock out holder Karolina Pliskova and set up a title clash with qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the Brisbane International yesterday.

Third seed Svitolina was staring at a potential hammering at the hands of her big-hitting Czech opponent as she went behind 4-0 in the opening set before finding her feet to seal a 7-5 7-5 victory in an hour and 39 minutes.

Sasnovich became the first qualifier to reach the final at Brisbane as she overcame a leg injury to dump out seventh seed Anastasija Sevast- ova 7-6(3) 6-4 in the other semi-final.

Trailing early in the contest, Svitolina reeled off seven of the next eight games to take the first set.

he Ukranian raced to a 5-2 lead in the second but Pliskova was not ready to surrender and saved a match point before levelling at 5-5.

A double fault by Pliskova gave Svitolina the opening she needed to serve for the match and the No.6 completed the job in style.

Earlier, world No.88 Sasnovich began her match strongly but allowed Sevastova to push the first set to a tiebreaker before regaining composure to secure the early advantage.

Clearly feeling the effects of playing her seventh match of the tournament, Sasnovich called for a medical timeout before the second set.

She soldiered on with heavy strapping on her legs and saved two breakpoints to hold for 3-3 and won a decisive break in the ninth game of the second set to set up the victory.

● Match alerts fell to a threeyear low in 2017 as the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) continued to bolster its measures to protect the sport from the threat of corruption.

The TIU annual report showed it had received a total of 241 alerts from betting operators and regulators in 2017, compared with 292 in 2016 and 246 in the previous 12 months.

The majority of the alerts were from the second and third tiers of professional men’s tennis – ATP Challenger and ITF Futures events – with only seven from grand slam tournaments.

Match alerts are not proof of wrongdoing, merely indicators of suspicious betting activity.

During 2017 the TIU prosecuted 14 corruption cases and handed lifetime bans to three players. – Reuters