- To be honest, I didn't play close to my best tennis today and I don't know... It was a reversal of roles, in the last few matches I have been the underdog, at least on paper, in terms of ranking.

But today it clearly felt like I was the favorite, says Kyrgios from the court after the match.

The Australian, runner-up in this year's Wimbledon and who has not won an ATP title since precisely in Washington three years ago, could not relax against Ymer, however.

- He is an incredible athlete and I really did not expect him to be so fast, Kyrgios says of Ymer.

- Maybe I will have a slightly different strategy the next time I play against him, maybe I won't go as hard, maybe go forward a little more.

But it was a tough semi-final and I'm just happy to be in the final again.

For the second time this year, 115-ranked Ymer made it all the way to the semifinals of an ATP tournament.

On his way there, he knocked out former world number one Andy Murray, now ranked 50th, Russian 36th-ranked Aslan Karatsev and 46th-ranked Finn Ruusuvuori.