Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios played an epic semi-final in Miami 2017, with the Swiss prevailing 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 after three hours and ten minutes. Thus, Federer advanced to his fourth Miami Open final, the first since 2006.
He arranged the meeting with Rafael Nadal and left his great rival and Novak Djokovic on 43 Masters 1000 finals, advancing to his 44th. Federer and Kyrgios broke each other once in the opening set. They stayed neck and neck in the rest of the encounter to reach only seven deuces in sets two and three, serving well and keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats.
Roger claimed the final set tie break 7-5, with Nick hitting a double fault at 5-5 to ruin his chances of reaching his first Masters 1000 final. It was the 18th victory for Roger from 19 matches in 2017. He made his best start of the season since 2006, reaching the final at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami for the first time since the mentioned season.
Roger had 54 winners and 39 unforced errors, facing only two break points. Nick stood on a solid 38-34 ratio, trying to endure all the efforts and cross the finish line first. Kyrgios had a slim lead in the shortest rallies (92-85), and Roger showed his class in the more extended ones, with a 55-38 advantage on his tally.
An 18-time Major…
