Nick Kyrgios edges Daniil Medvedev for Citi Open title in D.C.

Nick Kyrgios completed a dream week at the Citi Open in Washington DC on Sunday, edging Daniil Medvedev, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), to capture the equal-biggest title of his career at the 500-level event.

Less than 24 hours after a dramatic semifinal win against No. 6-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas, Kyrgios was back on Stadium Court for the final against the No. 10-ranked Medvedev, and the Russian was dialed in, especially on his serve - he dropped just one point in his first six service games en route to the first set tie-break, where he jumped ahead 5-2, seemingly on his way to a one-set lead.

But Kyrgios shifted into high gear from there, winning the next three points to catch up to 5-all, blasting a big ace to fight off a set point at 5-6 and then ripping a forehand passing shot to bring up his own set point at 7-6. He clinched the set after Medvedev just missed an inside out forehand.

The second set went much like the first, with neither player breaking serve - neither player faced a single break point the entire match, in fact. But just like in the first set, Kyrgios lifted his game when it mattered most in the tie-break, grabbing the crucial mini-break for a 5-3 lead and then, with the match on his racquet at 5-4, serving up back-to-back aces to close it out after an hour and 34 minutes.

Those were his 17th and 18th aces of the match - and his 109th and 110th aces of the week.

The victory gave Kyrgios the equal-biggest title of his career - he had previously captured 500-level titles at Tokyo in 2016 and Acapulco earlier this year. His other three career titles are all 250s.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “Where I was six months ago, some of the things I was doing, I was putting myself in a really tough situation. And to respond like this, having incredible support, it’s amazing. I’ve had people behind me, backing me, and they never lost faith in me, even though I lost it in myself.

“This week means a lot. Obviously it’s great to get the win, but I’ve proved to myself - and to a lot of people who were backing me - that I still have it, and I can still produce at the highest level.”

The Australian also improved to 5-1 against Top 10 players this year with his wins over Tsitsipas and Medvedev here, having beaten Rafael Nadal, John Isner and Alexander Zverev en route to the Acapulco title in March. His only loss to a Top 10 player this year came against Nadal at Wimbledon.

A former No. 13, he’ll now rise from No. 52 to back inside the Top 30 when the new rankings are out.

“It’s important, but at the end of the day I don’t care about rankings at all,” Kyrgios said. “I just want to grow as a person, as a human, and if that comes along, the tennis player will come with it too.

“That’s all I can do, really - see what happens every day. This has been one of the best weeks of my life from a tennis perspective - I feel like I’ve grown as a person, and I’m getting better every day.”

Medvedev, meanwhile, will return to his career-high ranking of No. 9 now. “All props to Daniil, he’s one of the most consistent players there is on the tour,” Kyrgios added. “He’s so young - he’s younger than me - and his career is just beginning, so to think about all of the great things he’s going to achieve is pretty scary. And also Stefanos yesterday - that was just an amazing atmosphere.”

Kyrgios and Medvedev might actually play each other again in a few days in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Medvedev, the No. 8 seed at the Masters 1000 event, has a first round bye, so if Kyrgios makes it through his first round match against Kyle Edmund, the rematch will be set.