Aussie Nick Kyrgios experienced a gamut of emotions on Sunday during the Citi Open final: Discomfort from his back, glee from his tweeners and joy from another flawless week at an ATP 500 event.

The 24-year-old beat World No. 10 Daniil Medvedev 7-6(6), 7-6(4) for his second ATP 500 title of the season in Washington, D.C. Kyrgios won the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco in March (d. Zverev) and has now won six ATP Tour titles, including three at the ATP 500 level (Tokyo 2016).

“This has honestly been one of my favourite weeks of my life. I’ve made massive strides,” Kyrgios said. “I started becoming friends with the smoothie guy, he knew what smoothie I wanted. I was playing ping pong with some kids before I’m playing. You guys were amazing. It was honestly a week to remember.”

“I’ve had people behind me, backing me, and they never lost faith in me even when I lost faith in myself. This week means a lot. It’s great to get the win, but I’ve proved to myself and the people backing me that I can still produce at the highest level.”

The Aussie mixed up baseline rallies well against Medvedev, slicing and bringing the 6’6” Russian to net with drop shots. But Kyrgios’ serve was the story as he never faced a break point and hit 18 aces, including two to close out the final. Kyrgios finished with 110 aces through six matches.

He improved to 5-1 against Top 10 players in 2019, a winning percentage of 83, best on the ATP Tour this year. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has won seven of his nine matches against Top 10 players this season (7/9, 78%).

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Kyrgios, No. 52, will receive 500 ATP Rankings points and is projected to return to the Top 30 on Monday when the new standings are released. He also will receive $365,390 in prize money.

“We all know how well Nick can play when he wants to. This week he wanted to play, and he was tough,” Medvedev said.

The Russian lost only one service point before the first-set tie-break and had the set on his racquet at 5/4. But Kyrgios stole the tie-break, saving a set point at 5/6 and gaining his third mini-break to take the opener.

After the first set, the Aussie took a medical time-out, which seemed to solve the back spasms that had him stretching on court during changeovers. But he still couldn’t break through on Medvedev’s serve. The Russian won 80 per cent of his service points for the match (55/69). He will receive 300 ATP Rankings points and $183,780 in prize money.

In the tie-break, Kyrgios was again the steadier of the two, jumping ahead by a mini-break at 5/3 when Medvedev lifted a forehand long, and the Aussie continued his match-point Washington tradition. For the third match in a row, before serving on match point, he leaned over the court side wall and asked a fan for advice on where he should hit his serve. Kyrgios then delivered another ace out wide in the Deuce Court.

Did You Know?
The Citi Open sold out seven of 11 sessions, including one of the qualifying rounds. This was the tournament’s first edition under the management of entrepreneur Mark Ein. “We shattered every attendance record ever for this event. We beat the all-time ticket revenue on Tuesday night,” Ein said.

It was four days of shock and awe.

Five years ago, at the 2014 Rogers Cup in Toronto, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga produced tennis that equaled or exceeded the best of his career. The Frenchman, then 29, claimed four Top 10 scalps over four consecutive days to win his second – and most recent – ATP Masters 1000 title.

One by one, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No. 9 Andy Murray, No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 3 Roger Federer fell victim to the rampaging Tsonga.

Although Tsonga returns to the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal next week rather than Toronto, memories of his dramatic run in Canada five years ago will surely give him extra confidence as he looks to continue his steady climb back up the ATP Rankings after his 2018 knee surgery.

“That was amazing for me,” Tsonga said of the title run. “All those guys have given me a hard time in my career. It was tough for me because I came along at the same time as them and they are among the best players in history. To be able to beat them in a row, at one tournament, was a good reward for me.”

Coming into the 2014 Rogers Cup, Tsonga was looking for his first title in almost 18 months (Marseille 2013). His big-tournament lead-in form had been solid – fourth-round defeats to Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros and Wimbledon – but hardly suggestive of what was to come. And it started with a bang against Djokovic, who had won their previous nine matches and 18 sets.

“The win over Djokovic was a little strange because I won 6-2, 6-2. It’s never been like that with him. The win over Andy was the most difficult for me. It was a big match with a lot of intensity that was tight in the third. I was very proud to win that because he’s such a fighter. With Roger I played the perfect final. It was amazing.”

TSONGA’S PATH TO THE 2014 ROGERS CUP TITLE

After beginning 2019 at No. 239 in the ATP Rankings, Tsonga had worked his way back inside the Top 70 coming into this week’s Citi Open in Washington, D.C, helped in large part by winning his 17^th title in Montpellier in February.

“That Tsonga's Four Days Of Shock & Awe In Canada was very emotional because it happened quickly. When I came back last September, I told myself I would give myself a lot of time to play good tennis. I was surprised how quickly it came.

“At this stage of my career the most difficult part of the comeback was to be motivated. Motivation is the main thing in tennis. You need to be 100 per cent to be at the top. When you make so many sacrifices and have had so many good results, and you know that it will take time and additional sacrifice to get back to the top, it can be difficult.

“But I was ready to make the sacrifice to get back on court and give my best.”

Heading into the Coupe Rogers, Tsonga in 2019 boasts an impressive 23-12 record, which includes a three-set win over World No. 8 Karen Khachanov in Washington.

“I’m feeling really good and just happy to be on court again playing good tennis. Hopefully that can continue through the season. I expect to reach my best level.”

DID YOU KNOW
When Tsonga won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Paris in 2008, he beat three Top 10 players (Djokovic, Roddick and Nalbandian) and World No. 11 Blake.

When ATP Tour players ‘lace them up’, that is usually in reference to their sneakers before a match. But on Saturday, several stars put on shin guards, hockey jerseys, and grabbed sticks to try their hand at a different sport ahead of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal.

Hubert Hurkacz, Kevin Krawietz, Oliver Marach, Jurgen Melzer, Andreas Mies, Brayden Schnur partnered with members of the Montreal Canadiennes women’s hockey team against current and former NHL players in an exciting game of ball hockey.

“It was fun. Honestly the skills they have, it’s just amazing to see what they could do with a stick and a ball. You feel very untalented next to them. It was a fun experience,” Melzer said. “It wasn’t my first time. I haven’t improved since the last time, unfortunately, but I would do it again.”

The ATP Tour players tried their best to position themselves in front of the net in hopes of scoring on former Montreal Canadien centre Steve Begin, who was playing goalkeeper. But they could not overcome an early deficit, with the NHL stars winning the game 4-2.

“It was crazy. Those guys were amazing. It was really amazing. It was really tough because when we were close to the ball, the guys would just put their stick [and knock it away]. It wasn’t easy, but it was fun,” Hurkacz said. “It’s something different. It’s a lot of fun to do something different apart from tennis.”

Even though the game didn’t go the way of the tennis players, they all wore wide smiles across their faces throughout. Not only did they enjoy competing, but they took time to get to know players from the other team afterwards, learning about their own lives as professional athletes.

“They scored four goals very quickly, so we were happy to score two,” Melzer said. “In the end it’s not about winning, it’s about having fun.”

Third seed Diego Schwartzman stepped up when it counted most on Saturday at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex in Los Cabos. The Argentine saved three set points en route to clinching his first title of the year over fifth-seeded American Taylor Fritz 7-6(6), 6-3.

Schwartzman earned the third ATP Tour title of his career and his first on hard courts. The 26-year-old’s other highlights this season include a runner-up finish in Buenos Aires (l. to Cecchinato) and his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Schwartzman now leads 2-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Fritz.

Despite the loss, the 21-year-old Fritz can be pleased with another strong result. He’s won 13 of his past 16 matches, including his first ATP Tour title in June at the Nature Valley International (d. Querrey) and a runner-up finish last week at the BB&T Atlanta Open (l. to De Minaur). Fritz sits at a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 28, but is projected to crack the Top 25 when the newest standings are released on Monday.

It appeared that Fritz would dominate in the opening stages of the match. A baseline error from Schwartzman gifted the American an early break to lead 3-1 in the first set, but the Argentine settled down and increased his margins in the rallies to earn the break back. Serving at 5-6, 0/40, Schwartzman bravely saved three set points with a barrage of big serves and forehands to force a tie-break.

A double fault from Fritz gave Schwartzman a 6/3 advantage in the tie-break, but Fritz launched his own comeback to even the score. At 6/6, Fritz’s serve let him down again with another double fault and Schwartzman made good on his fourth opportunity to close out the set.

Schwartzman grabbed an early break in the second set due to Fritz receiving a point penalty and led 3-1, but the magnitude of the occasion appeared to get to the Argentine. Schwartzman began to decelerate on his forehand and allowed Fritz to get the break back at 4-2, but regrouped brilliantly in the next game and broke Fritz for a 5-3 advantage. The third seed fell to the ground in elation after a forehand sent wide from Fritz wrapped up the match after one hour and 43 minutes.

Schwartzman picked up 250 ATP Rankings points and $131,430. Fritz walked away with 150 ATP Rankings points and $71,065.

#NextGenATP Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime arrived on site for his first practice at this year’s Coupe Rogers on Friday evening. The 18-year-old did not expect any fans to be there with qualifying yet to begin.

“It was full, and everybody was happy to come watch me practise. That’s a different feeling. I’d be lying if I said that I’m going on the court and it just feels like any other tournament,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It feels special. Hopefully I can use that energy and that support in a good way.”

This will be the World No. 22’s first time competing at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 tournament when it’s been held in his birthplace: Montreal. Auger-Aliassime debuted in the main draw last year in Toronto.

But Felix is not the same player he was then. At 17, he was a wild card ranked World No. 133. Auger-Aliassime lost in a final-set tie-break in the second round against current Top 10 star Daniil Medvedev.

This year, Auger-Aliassime could potentially become the Canadian No. 1 with a strong performance at his home Masters 1000 tournament. Prior to this season, he owned just six tour-level wins. He has 29 already in 2019, including trips to his first three ATP Tour finals and the semi-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau. Auger-Aliassime was already a hot commodity in Toronto last year, and that’s only increased over the past 52 weeks.

“For sure the trap is that there’s a lot of attention and I’m going to put maybe more pressure on myself,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I think you have to put that aside and like every other tournament, try and focus as much as I can on what I have to do prior to my first round and then the rest of the week.”

There will always be an electric crowd in Canada whenever Auger-Aliassime competes on home soil. But that will be the case even moreso when he faces countryman Vasek Pospisil, a former Montreal semi-finalist, in the first round. Auger-Aliassime leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0, including a victory at Wimbledon this year.

“I just laughed. I saw it coming. I was talking with my physio earlier that day and I was like, ‘I think something’s going to happen. I’m going to play Denis or Vasek.’ I felt like something was going to happen and it did,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Honestly, no big reaction. That’s just how it is. We’re good friends, we get along well, but once we step on court we’re going to compete at our best like we did at Wimbledon and we’ll see who the winner is. But I think we’re good competitors and we’re good people, so we’re able to put our friendship aside for the time of the match and just compete at our best.”

Another #NextGenATP Canadian who will be under the spotlight is Denis Shapovalov, who went on a magical run in Montreal two years ago, defeating Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal en route to his first Masters 1000 semi-final. A reporter asked Auger-Aliassime if the nature of this event will alter the pair’s friendship at all this week, and the teen said there was no chance of that happening.

“I’m going to ignore him. No, come on, it’s not like that. We’re not at war here. It’s cool. We talk normally. Even with Vasek, I texted him yesterday. When we saw the draw, we just laughed, like how crazy was that? But once we step on court, then we forget friendship, we just play our match,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But my friendship with Denis hasn’t changed and it’s not going to change because of this week, because of any week. I think that’s two completely different things. There’s the friendship outside the court and there’s the competition. That’s for sure not going to change anything.”

Auger-Aliassime is adamant that he does not want to look too far ahead. But if he defeats Pospisil, he could potentially face former World No. 3 and Montreal finalist Milos Raonic, who faces Lucas Pouille, in the second round.

“For sure that’s crazy. If Vasek wins, it’s going to be the same thing. He’s going to play another Canadian in the second round,” Auger-Aliassime said. “That’s like Indian Wells last year. It’s pretty crazy that it has to happen here in Montreal.”

After Auger-Aliassime ousted Pospisil at last year’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, he fell in straight sets against Raonic. But the veteran has seen Felix develop in the past year, watching his game develop as his countryman’s ATP Ranking has ballooned as high as No. 21.

“I think it’s just consistency. Last year when we practised, he’d always be able to play at a really high level and then there’d be a game each set… where he’d just sort of spray a few balls and lose the handles of it a little bit for a moment. I think that’s the biggest thing that’s changed, he doesn’t really have those little spurts anymore,” Raonic said. “Obviously physically, he’s incredibly developed for a guy of his age. I think he’s really mature in that way and the way he approaches his tennis. But I think it’s just those spurts, that he minimised them. And when they do happen, I think they happen for much shorter periods of time.

“I think when you play the way he does, aggressively, he does a lot of things well, you just keep constantly putting pressure on your opponent and that creates some openings for himself.”