Nick Kyrgios has won his fifth ATP title at the Mexican Open as Roger Federer claimed his 100th at the Dubai Tennis Championships. The two winners showed their class throughout their tournaments, as well as digging through some tougher moments.
Kyrgios beat all three top seeds on the way to his title in Rafael Nadal, John Isner and Alexander Zverev, as well as multiple grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka. He won in three sets (including a final set tiebreak) against Nadal and Isner, along with a three-set win against Wawrinka, before a straight sets demolition of Zverev in the final.
On the path to the title Kyrgios was booed by the Mexican crowd against Nadal, and again against Wawrinka. When he attempted an underarm serve against the revered Spaniard (which was designed to force Nadal to stand further forward on Kygriosā serve) this was interpreted as a sign of disrespect, as was a complaint about Nadal wasting time and disrupting Kyrgiosā serving rhythm.
The dynamic Australian tore the highly rated Zverev apart in the final with the young German, who didnāt drop a set en route to the match, unable to find an answer to Kyrgiosā creativity and sheer talent. Early in the second set Kyrgios wobbled, but stormed back to claim the win and his fifth ATP tour title. The win will lift him into the top 50 players in the world again.
Meanwhile Roger Federer won his 100th title in Dubai, becoming just the second man (behind Jimmy Conners) to do so. In the final he avenged his Australian Open defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas, beating the Greek sensation 6-4 6-4.
In addition to being the second most successful (in terms of tournament wins) male player of all time, Federer is the most successful at Grand Slams (with 20) as well as on grass and hard courts. He is now 10 tournament wins away from being the most successful man ever, with just Connersā 109 to chase down.