Top seed Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Dubai Tennis Championships quarter-finals after having eye problem during the match.
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Kyrgios had lost the opening set 6-4 and was trailing 3-0 in the second when he felt unable to continue due to a back injury for which he had earlier received treatment on court.
Last week the 20-year-old overcame Berdych in straight sets in Marseille, and eventually claimed the title – the first of his career.
French Open champion Stan Wawrinka reached the semifinals where he will face brash Australian Nick Kyrgios for the first time since their infamous spat in Canada previous year.
Kyrgios will next play either second-seeded Stan Wawrinka or eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Like most great tennis players, Nick Kyrgios has goals this season.
The pair were reportedly involved in a locker room confrontation before Kyrgios issued an apology and accepted a $US10,000 ATP fine and a six-month suspended ban.
“I started to feel better on court already yesterday”.
Djokovic held a ideal 14-0 record in 2016 coming into the day, but was more concerned about getting back to full fitness ahead of Serbia’s Davis Cup tie at home to Kazakhstan from March 4-6. “He’s playing great tennis”. I think we’ve both moved on from it. By his own admission, he wasn’t in “the greatest shape”. However, he quit the match after the Spaniard closed out the set.
“It’s very sad when you play against one of the best players in the history of the sport and he has to retire the way he did”, Lopez said. Basically it’s an allergy that got worsened since last two days.
Djokovic, whose last retirement from a match came in a Davis Cup clash in 2011, committed 18 unforced errors in the nine games played.
Wawrinka has not played in Dubai since 2008, and until this year, had not won a set let alone a match in his two previous visits. Every day seemed like such a grind, or like a day job but now I’m actually starting to enjoy it a little bit more. “It’s probably my favourite win over the past couple of weeks”, said Kyrgios. “But I could still improve, and I’m happy I did”.
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Two poor drop shots from Kyrgios and a wide bullet forehand saw the world No33 get broken in the first game of the second set. He will only have Marcos Baghdatis to defeat in the semifinal, a strong player but one that has not played consistently well for a few years now.
