World No. 96 Yoshihito Nishioka acknowledged that Nick Kyrgios has been playing great tennis over the last couple of weeks and he admits it will be extremely difficult to beat the Australian. Nishioka, 26, is set to clash six-time ATP champion Kyrgios in the Washington final.
Going into the match, Kyrgios is the clear favorite and he has also never lost to Nishioka. On the main level, Kyrgios owns a 3-0 head-to-head versus Nishioka. Also, Kyrgios beat Nishioka at the Savannah Challenger in 2014.
"Kyrgios is Kyrgios," Nishioka said, per Sportskeeda. "He can do whatever he wants, he has good day. Also, I think we both have the mentality, too much emotional sometimes, but for sure, he had a great week here, singles and doubles.
For sure, he has so much confidence. I never beat him."
Nishioka: It will be hard if Kyrgios has a strong service day
"You know, if he making 80% first service, I can't do anything," Nishoka added. "So sometimes like going to sometimes happen, but like sometimes not.
If I have chances, if I get it, maybe I have chance to win. If I don't, maybe I lose. So we'll see how it's going, and then just enjoy the day tomorrow." Nishioka will be aiming to win his second ATP title when he clashes Kyrgios at the Citi Open in Washington.
In 2018, Nishioka clinched his first and lone ATP title in Shenzhen. Nishioka has been playing great throughout the entire week and he has reached the final even though he really wasn't the favorite in any of the matches he has played in Washington.
En route to reaching the Washington final, Nishioka defeated Jenson Brooksby, Alex de Minaur, Karen Khachanov, Daniel Evans and Andrey Rublev. Nishioka is coming off of a big upset win over Rublev and it remains to be seen if he can stun Kyrgios for the Washington title.