Despite losing in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp to a red-hot Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov can hold his head high knowing he’s started 2018 with the same momentum that he finished a career year in 2017. 

Last season’s Nitto ATP Finals titlist and defending Brisbane champion gritted through two tough three-set matches before falling to Nick Kyrgios in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 decision. Saving match points in his season-opening clash with John Millman, Dimitrov navigated Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals in yet another two-and-a-half hour thriller. Against Kyrgios, however, the Bulgarian was unable to come up with the answer to his opponent’s cannonball serve and unpredictable patterns of play. 

“I’m glad at least I could play some matches and get to those clutch moments,” said Dimitrov. “Obviously, it was great to go through those three-setters, saving a match point in the first round.

“I’m building off those kind of matches. Obviously, today has been — it was again a tough match. I think I played well the first set… after that, there was not much else I could have done, I thought,” the 26-year-old added. “He was just serving unbelievable, just hitting his spots. Like, I even thought at some point was a little bit, like, carelessly hitting the ball, and they were getting in. 

“It was just good shots from him.”

Although Dimitrov was able to secure an early break thanks to a combination of his opponent’s wavering focus and his own tenacious defense, Kyrgios amped up the pressure on his serve and on return, hitting 19 aces in the one hour, 33-minute encounter. The prolific shotmaker is into his first ATP World Tour final on home soil.

For the first time in their now 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head series, Dimitrov was flummoxed by the Australian’s capricious style. 

“I mean, there were a lot of balls that were pretty casual, but what can I do? There’s no point for me to get frustrated or pissed whatsoever. You just have to accept it,” said Dimitrov.

“And we know how he is. He can switch from playing unbelievable to just missing, you know, the easiest shots and all that … sometimes when there’s no way out, you try to change up the game and break the rhythm of a player. And today just everything, whatever I thought he tried, it was just great.”

Dimitrov heads to Melbourne next, where he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last year, following his Brisbane triumph. It was his second Grand Slam semi-final – before falling to Rafael Nadal in one of the best Grand Slam matches of 2017.

“I’m a little bit tired, but it’s good,” said Dimitrov on how he feels following Brisbane, leading into Melbourne. “It’s great to get, as I said, those matches early on. Try to play a few three-setters to see how the body feels after two-and-a-half hours. 

“[But] the body feels great. As I said, a little bit tired, but I think after couple of days off and getting bit of treatment, things will get back on track.”

Nick Kyrgios thundered 19 aces past Grigor Dimitrov Saturday night to charge into the final of the Brisbane International. The 22-year-old Australian rallied from a set down for the third consecutive match to beat the World No. 3 and top seed 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to set a showdown with American Ryan Harrison.

Earlier in the day Harrison was within two points of defeat in the second-set tie-break against 18-year-old Australian Alex De Minaur before holding his nerve to win 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Kyrgios leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Harrison 2-0.

Maybe slow starts are a positive omen for Aussie Nick Kyrgios. For the third consecutive match, the third seed fell behind a set on Saturday evening at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp.

But for the third consecutive match, Kyrgios found a way to come back, this time against defending champion Grigor Dimitrov to pick up his first win against the Bulgarian and advance to Sunday’s final, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

The final will be Kyrgios’ first on home soil and his seventh overall (3-3). Kyrgios is also the first Aussie to reach the Brisbane final since former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in 2014 (d. Federer).

Kyrgios will face American Ryan Harrison, who beat Kyrgios’ countryman Alex de Minaur 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to reach his third ATP World Tour title match (2017 Memphis, 2017 Atlanta).

Kyrgios leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0, and Harrison has yet to take a set off the Aussie. “I know that he’s a dangerous opponent. He can serve very, very well and he’s obviously won a lot of matches here,” Kyrgios said on court.

The 22-year-old Canberra native trailed Dimitrov in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 0-2, including a loss in last year’s Western & Southern Open final in Cincinnati, and the Bulgarian was riding a seven-match win streak heading into the Brisbane semi-final. Dimitrov started on a roll as well, breaking Kyrgios once and not facing a break point in the first set to gain the lead.

But Kyrgios swung more freely in the second set and mixed up his play against Dimitrov. The third-seeded Kyrgios exchanged rapid-fire points with Dimitrov and came out the victor more often than not. He also gave Dimitrov different return looks, and the strategy seemed to throw the World No. 3 off as Kyrgios broke twice in the second set to even the match in 29 minutes.

“I knew that I had to do something a little bit differently today. I couldn’t give him too much rhythm,” Kyrgios said.

The third set followed a similar strategy. Kyrgios dominated on serve – he finished with 19 aces and won 82 per cent of his first-serve points – and broke in the seventh game before serving out the match.

All week in Brisbane, defending champion Grigor Dimitrov and a pair of Aussie semi-finalists – 18-year-old Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios – had stolen the attention during the opening week of the ATP World Tour season.

But quietly, Ryan Harrison of the U.S. had gone about his work, leading the tournament in aces and battling through a pair of early three-set contests. Now the American will go for his second ATP World Tour title in the past 11 months.

Harrison ended the fairytale run of #NextGenATP de Minaur on Saturday afternoon, coming back from a 3/5 deficit in the second-set tie-break to advance 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. Harrison will play in his third ATP World Tour final, all of which have come since February 2017, when the American won the Memphis Open (d. Basilashvili) for his maiden title. Last July, Harrison fell to countryman John Isner in the BB&T Atlanta Open final.

The 25-year-old will face either top seed and Brisbane doubles partner Grigor Dimitrov or the third-seeded Kyrgios in Sunday’s final. “I’m excited to be in the final. They’re both great players. I’m going to have to play really good tennis to have a shot there,” Harrison said on court.

And to think, Harrison had never won even a set in Brisbane before this week. The right-hander had gone 0-4 during his prior appearances. But a new attitude might be to thank for his early success. Harrison, who, like de Minaur, was a highly-touted teenager on the ATP World Tour, said he’s simply looking to compete in 2018 and forget about expectations.

“Coming into this year I want to leave it all on the court every time I play. I feel like if I do that I’ll be improving. I didn’t have a whole lot of pressure on myself. I was just trying to play as hard as I could and I’m in the final,” Harrison said.

De Minaur, before facing Harrison, hadn’t lost a set this week in Brisbane. The 18-year-old had captured the hearts of thousands of Aussie fans this week by beating two Top 50 players – No. 44 Steve Johnson and No. 24 Milos Raonic, along with #NextGenATP counterpart Michael Mmoh – and was the clear fan favourite to reach his maiden ATP World Tour final.

“The No. 1 thing I wanted to do was take the crowd of it. Miserable fail,” Harrison said before laughing.

Proactive play – aggressive second-serve returning and attacking the net often – had de Minaur two points away from reaching the title match. At 5/4 in the second-set tie-break, de Minaur had the contest on his racquet. But Harrison won the first point to get 5/5, and de Minaur double faulted before smacking a forehand long on set point.

The Aussie then started flat in the decider, and Harrison seized the opportunity, breaking twice to lead 5-1. He was broken while trying to serve out the match at 5-2, but Harrison recovered and held to love to reach the title match.

“The thing that I love about his game is how aggressive he is… He’s got a really bright future. It was a pleasure to play him,” Harrison said. “I was just trying to tell myself to compete as hard as I could, focus as much as I could on my side of the court. And then hope that he was going to give me a dip in level. I don’t know if he dipped in level but I think things only just worked out for me.”

Typically when Grigor Dimitrov sprints to and hurdles over the net, he’s doing it for fun – do not try it at home, kids – not because he’s scared for his opponent who has suddenly collapsed to the court. But the Bulgarian was in the latter position on Friday evening during his quarter-final match against Kyle Edmund at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp.

The two were tied 4-4 in the third and final set when Edmund let out a shriek and fell to the ground, grasping his right ankle. Instinctively, Dimitrov raced to the net and hurdled over it, as if he had done it before, or a few times in the past.

Find you a man who…

Sportsmanship goals by @GrigorDimitrov ?#BrisbaneTENnis pic.twitter.com/CMitSARvYN

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 5, 2018

Leaning over his opponent, he consoled Edmund, grabbing his arm and seeing if he was OK. A few seconds later, Dimitrov was helping Edmund off the court and walking him to his chair, Edmund’s arm wrapped around Dimitrov’s shoulders as the crowd applauded the sportsmanship.

“It was just such an instinct for me that I didn’t think, ‘Okay, I’m just going to go around the net, or I’m going to go that post or this post’. It was just like such a natural instinct for me to go and jump over,” said Dimitrov, who also trains on track hurdles, which are of similar height to the net.

“It’s tough, obviously, what happened. Little unfortunate, that’s for sure. But, I mean, I would have reacted like this whoever I was playing against. So this is just my instinct, my reaction, to do that right away. I hope he gets better.”

An ATP World Tour trainer re-wrapped Edmund’s ankle, and play continued during the quarter-final, which Dimitrov won 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4 after taking the final two games. In the semi-finals, the Bulgarian will face Aussie Nick Kyrgios for the third time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Edmund appreciated his opponent’s quick actions. “It’s good to have someone like that. But he’s always been like that, Grigor. He’s been a good guy on and off the court,” Edmund said.

The Brit thought the majority of ATP World Tour players would have done the same for their opponents as well.

“It’s good that someone is concerned about you, but as tennis players you generally are… Most people would have done that, but it’s nice to see him get up and help me to the chair,” Edmund said.

Edmund was also optimistic that he would be feeling fully healed in time for his next tournament, the Sydney International, which starts on Sunday.

“The ankle got extended a bit too much and that was it really,” he said. “But I’ve obviously done it twice before. This is my third time. So from the past, the next morning it’s a bit tender but then, after a day or two, it settles down. Basically, it’s just a rolled ankle. That’s what it is.”

Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios will meet for a third time in the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp semi-finals on Saturday.

With their incredible athleticism and shot-making capabilities, Dimitrov and Kyrgios are two of the most exciting players on the ATP World Tour and look set to produce a classic when they collide at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Queensland.

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0 after wins at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open and in the 2017 Western & Southern Open final.

ATPWorldTour.com looks back at their two previous matches.

2015 BNP Paribas Open, Second Round, Indian Wells – Dimitrov d. Kyrgios 76(2) 36 76(4)
Heading into their first meeting in the Californian desert, both players were in-form after strong starts during the Australian swing.

Their Indian Wells duel was a classic, lasting two hours and 10 minutes, featuring a number of awe-inspiring rallies including an unforgettable Hot Shot winner from then-World No. 11 Dimitrov.

Kyrgios would serve for the win at 5-4 in the decider, but a nasty fall would hamper the Australian’s movement and, after rallying to force a final set tie-break, Dimitrov would prove too solid to triumph 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(4).

2017 Western & Southern Open, Final, Cincinnati – Dimitrov d. Kyrgios 63 75
Two years and five months would pass before they met again, in entirely different circumstances. Dimitrov, once more ranked at No. 11 in the ATP Rankings having dropped at low at No. 40 in July 2016, had produced an ATP World Tour-best start to 2017, while Kyrgios performances at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells and Miami were promising.

On U.S. soil once more, Kyrgios produced his best level again to defeat Rafael Nadal en route to his first Masters 1000 final. Dimitrov didn’t drop a set on his march to a debut Masters 1000 championship match of his own, defeating Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner along the way.

In the biggest match of both of their careers, it was Dimitrov who rose to the occasion conceding just 13 points on his serve throughout the 85-minute contest. Dimitrov held 52 of his 53 service games across the week to lift the trophy and pocket 1,000 ATP Ranking points.

On Saturday at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, both players come into this third encounter full of belief after navigating tricky semi-final paths.

Dimitrov will feel invincible after saving two match points down in his opening-round against John Millman and outlasting a strong performance from Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals. Kyrgios will also be encouraged by his abilities to turn on the style, like a tap, as he did in both of his three-set wins against Matthew Ebden and Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Who knows what the next instalment of this great rivalry has to offer. Only one thing is for sure; you won’t want to miss it.