Roger Federer needed more than three hours to outlast Nick Kyrgios 7-6(9) 6-7(9) 7-6(5) in a pulsating Miami Open semi-final on Friday to set up another mouthwatering final clash with Rafa Nadal.
The Swiss, who has won two of his last three tournaments including the Australian Open, had to dig deep to get through a second straight test after fending off a match point in his quarter-final victory over Tomas Berdych.
Australian Kyrgios, who has twice beaten Novak Djokovic over the last month, left his racket a twisted heap on the court after coming up short in a battle against the former world number one and a partisan crowd.
Federer's victory sets up a rematch of January's Melbourne Park title-decider against Spaniard Nadal, who earlier rolled over unseeded Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1 7-5.
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In the match attended by the polarised crowd, Kyrgios got the short end of the stick. According to media reports, fans played a significant role in pushing Federer over the line and this is not just about support.
In the decider set tie-break, Kyrgios served at 5-4. needing two points to win. A voice from the crowd came, 'out' as he was readying for a forehand from behind the baseline. Kyrgios messed the shot and, as a result, remonstrated with the crowd using obscenities.
There was no recovering for Kyrgios because right after the heated exchange, he double-faulted on the next point and Federer celebrated his 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 victory by rewarding the support from fans by throwing all of his towels into the crowd.
"It was a great feeling to play like this," said Federer in his on-court interview. "It was a lot of fun and you guys [the crowd] made it super special so thank you very much.
"I was feeling pretty happy sitting down (after the second set) because it was one set all. I could have lost the first. I was trying to stay positive, and for you guys, it was worthwhile to stay more, because the atmosphere only got more epic."
(With Reuters Inputs)
