Brisbane International: Kyrgios blasts his way into finals

ANI  |  Brisbane [Australia] 

Australian star is on the verge of clinching this year's International title after he made it to the finals of the tournament, following a three-set victory over of Bulgaria, on Saturday.

For the third match in a row, third-seed Kyrgios fell behind a set before bouncing back strongly to sweep aside 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a thrilling men's singles clash that lasted one and a half hour on the hard courts of the Centre.

Reflecting on the match, Kyrgios admitted that his opponent played a pretty solid first set, but he somehow managed to take control later in the match to eventually come out victorious.

"I hadn't beaten him before. Going into today, I knew that I was going to do something a little different. I was going to kind of just not give him too much rhythm. Come in a lot, be super aggressive off my returns. And obviously try and just serve, just serve pretty much anywhere and just play aggressive," the ATP quoted Kyrgios, as saying.

"He played a pretty solid first set. I played a pretty loose game to get broken. And then, pretty much from then on, I felt pretty in control of the match," he added.

Kyrgios, who sealed his first win over the Bulgarian star, has also become the first Australian to reach the final since former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in 2014.

The Australian player will now lock horns with American in the summit showdown. Kyrgios leads their Head-to-Head series against Harrison 2-0.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, January 06 2018. 19:50 IST