Currently 68th in the world, the Scot will meet Italian Matteo Berrettini (10th) on Sunday, who eliminated German Oscar Otte (61st) 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5).
The match between Murray and Kyrgios was exciting for just over an hour, the time of a fierce first set, where the Australian was very strong on his own service games, while the Briton had to fight for win his own.
Murray managed to hang on, to reach the tie-break.
He then made his opponent give in to pocket the first set 7-6 (7-5).
Then Kyrgios lost his temper early in the second run.
He broke his racquet and had a rather heated verbal exchange with a group of spectators, which earned him first a point penalty, then finally a play by the referee.
From there, the whimsical Australian visibly dropped the match, to the chagrin of the large crowd.
"The second set wasn't very fun to play, to be honest it wasn't very hard fought," admitted Murray, "it wasn't really a match anymore."
Australian Nick Kyrgios, during his semi-final against Swiss Roger Federer, June 16, 2018 at the Stuttgart tournament THOMAS KIENZLE AFP / Archives
"The first set was tough, and it was the end of the first set that was the crucial moment of the game," analyzed Murray, 35, winner of three Grand Slam tournaments in his career, finalist in Sydney this year in January, but who has not won a circuit event since October 2019 in Antwerp.
Faced with Berrettini, he will not be a favorite.
"Berrettini is a great player on grass, he won the Queens tournament last year and was a finalist at Wimbledon," said Murray, who will play the 10th grass final of his career.
The joy of the Italian Matteo Berrettini, after his victory against the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, on June 16, 2019 in the final of the Stuttgart tournament Thomas KIENZLE AFP / Archives
The Italian has returned to competition in Stuttgart after three months off due to surgery on his right hand.
He hasn't won a tournament since Queens in June 2021.
© 2022 AFP