Fading Kyrgios Humbled By Hurkacz At Montreal Masters, Ruud Rocks Auger-Aliassime

Nick Kyrgios’s 9-match win streak came to an end Friday to Hubert Hurkacz who knocked out the Wimbledon finalist in three sets 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-1.

Kyrgios, who had won 19 of 22 matches coming in just in singles, looked weary by the end against Hurkacz who also beat him on the Halle grass in June.

“Nick has been playing some incredible tennis throughout the past weeks, so it is a pleasure playing against him,” Hurkacz said on court. “I hope the fans enjoyed it as well, but I am happy with the result in the end.”

Kyrgios is a former Cincinnati finalist, said a few days of rest will do him good for next week.

“He’s got one of the best serves in the world. I had opportunities in the first set break points and break points in the second. Obviously, that was pretty crucial because just running on fumes a bit towards the end. I think it’s normal,” Kyrgios said.

“I feel good. I feel confident. Now I got three days, three or four days, of rest until Cincinnati. I’m going to use that, really capitalize on just rest and recovery.”

Hurkacz, a former Miami winner, will now meet recent Miami finalist Casper Ruud who upset Felix Auger-Aliassime with ease 6-1, 6-2.

“It was one of those days where everything goes in one favor and luckily it was in my favor. With a player like Felix, you need to rely on some margins going your way. I didn’t expect them to all go on my side,” Ruud told the crowd. “It was a bit of a difficult start. I got broken but then was able to turn everything around. I hit my spots, made the shots I needed to and make him hit a lot of balls. That was the game plan and it worked well.

”I am sure Felix has played better than he has today. He has for sure, I have seen it before. It is a pity because he is playing at home. Maybe that was a factor, you could be nervous, but I am not going to talk for Felix. It was a big moment. This arena was full today and I am lucky I was able to win.”

Auger-Aliassime tossed in 25 unforced errors which did him in.

“I never thought it would be ending like this today,” said the Canadian. “Credit to Casper for playing well. I think you always have to give credit when it’s due. But on my side it’s super disappointing to lose any tournament like this, and especially here.”

In the other semifinal, it’s a surprise with Dan Evans dueling Pablo Carreno Busta for a spot in a Masters final.

Evans took down Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and then it was Carreno Busta getting back in the last four of a big hard court event dispatching the young Brit qualifier Jack Draper 7-6(4), 6-1.

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