Roger Federer Advances to Miami Open Final with Marathon Win over Nick Kyrgios

Don't tell Roger Federer his prime is in the rearview mirror.

The 35-year-old star advanced to the Miami Open final with a physically grueling 7-6 (9), 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5) victory over Nick Kyrgios in Friday's semifinal matchup. A win over Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final would mean a third 2017 title for Federer after he prevailed at the Australian Open and BNP Paribas Open.

Friday marked Federer's first career win against Kyrgios. They were supposed to play at the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal before Kyrgios withdrew after he beat Novak Djokovic.

The three-tiebreak match lasted more than three hours, and the crowd was decidedly pro-Federer throughout. Kyrgios didn't hide his emotion and yelled at the crowd, official and his own racket a number of times.

Despite going to deuce on Kyrgios' first two service games, the two remained on serve through the first six games. It was the Australian who came through with the first break, and tennis writer Abigail Johnson pointed to the early missed chances for Federer:

However, Kyrgios couldn't take advantage and allowed Federer to break back. He slammed his racket in disgust during his opponent's break and drew jeers from the crowd.

The crowd continued to boo Kyrgios into the tiebreak, causing the official to stop play and plea for silence. Federer ultimately prevailed in a grueling 20-point tiebreak, and Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times pointed out Kyrgios was playing against more than just an 18-time major winner:

Tennis TV highlighted two critical points:

There was less crowd-related drama in the second set, as both players remained on serve throughout until yet another tiebreak.

The tiebreak followed the script of the entire back-and-forth match with plenty of momentum swings and dramatic moments. Federer earned two match points, but his challenger remained alive and prevailed on his third set point and 20th point of the tiebreak, forcing a decisive set.

Tennis TV captured his impressive shotmaking:

As was the case throughout the battle, neither could muster anything against the serve. Josh Meiseles of ATP World Tour noted the third set was the sixth straight set between these two that went to a tiebreak.

Federer won the tiebreak but only after Kyrgios screamed at the crowd to be quiet on multiple occasions. He even obliterated his racket by slamming it after Federer's match point, as Tennis TV shared:

Federer now sets his sights on Nadal, who beat Fabio Fognini in Friday's other semifinal in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5. Fognini didn't earn a single break point throughout the match, so Federer will have to deal with Nadal's potent serve.

Nadal holds a 23-13 overall edge in his head-to-head showdowns with Federer, but the Swiss star has won the last three. Federer already beat Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open and Australian Open this year.

If he extends his winning streak to four over the Spaniard, he will capture his third career Miami Open championship.

Post-Match Reaction

Federer discussed the narrow win, per Steven Wine of the Associated Press (h/t the Washington Post): "It's great winning this way. It could have gone either way. It was a nail-biter."

Kyrgios talked about the back-and-forth match, per Wine: "I showed a lot of fight. Obviously I'm an emotional guy. I had some ups and downs, a bit of a roller coaster. Ultimately I thought I put in a good performance. I thought the crowd would have enjoyed it."

Federer noticed the crowd as well, per Wine: "Crowds jump on it pretty quickly, but it makes for a good atmosphere at the end of the day, so it's not all that bad. I think he’s good for the game."