Stefanos Tsitsipas to face Nick Kyrgios in semi-final of Citi Open

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@StefTsitsipas

Greek tennis sensation and top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas produced a rich vein of form as he eased past No. 10 seed Benoit Paire of France in straight sets to cement his place in the semi-finals of the ongoing Citi Open in Rock Creek Park in Washington D.C on Saturday. 

The 20-year-old hardly broke a sweat in getting the better of Frenchman Paire 7-5, 6-0 in a one-sided quarter-final clash of the men's singles event of the tournament that lasted one hour and 14 minutes. 

Reflecting on the clash, Tsitsipas said that he felt he played out the second set very professionally and aggressively while not giving much pace to Paire throughout the match. 

“I’m glad that I played well today. I think I closed out the second set very professionally, very aggressively. I think that’s good for me psychologically. I didn’t give him much pace to play with and that played a big part overall," the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) quoted Tsistsipas as saying. 

The Greek tennis star will now take on Australia's Nick Kyrgios, who has also stormed into the last-four after registering a comfortable straight sets win over Slovakian lucky loser Norbert Gombos.

Kyrgios smashed 26 winners and 19 aces while making just 10 unforced errors to wrap up the quarter-final match against Gombos 6-3, 6-3 in just 57 minutes. 

"I’m super happy that all the work I’ve been doing off the court is translating on the court. Four days in a row and four matches at my highest level. I’m pretty happy about it.I love playing night matches. The crowd gets into it, so I’m just trying to give them some fun tennis and also give them some wins as well," the Australian said after the match. 

Notably, Kyrgios has advanced to his first ATP Tour semi-final since clinching the title in Acapulco this March and will aim to register his first Top 10 win since that event.