Nick Kyrgios recovered from a first-set loss to defeat second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday at the ATP 500 event in Halle.

Following a strong second-set performance to tie the match, the World No. 45 clinched a crucial break late in the deciding set to advance to the quarterfinals on his tournament debut.

The Australian hit 32 winners (including 9 aces), fewer than Tsitsipas’ 39 winners (including 18 aces), but held firm to win the two-hour, five-minute match and complete his biggest ATP Ranking win since defeating the same opponent at the 2020 ATP Cup.

However, after receiving a time violation in the second set, Kyrgios took another shot at the umpires. After receiving the violation during the second seed’s service game, the world No. 45 sat down and refused to play until he spoke with the supervisor, later claiming that umpires “try to be relevant.”

“Stef is one of the best players in the world at the moment and he’s going to have some amazing results and I’m sure many, many Grand Slams,” said Kyrgios after the match.

“I don’t know if I can say the same for me, but I’m happy to still be able to produce this level with the tournaments I play. It is a testament to how hard I do work when I’m not playing. I’m just super excited to move on as well, I want to keep having these big wins on the best courts in the world,” he said.

Kyrgios advanced to the semifinals in Stuttgart last week after defeating home favourite Daniel Altmaier in the first round in Halle. On Wednesday, he continued to look sharp on the grass against Tsitsipas, but only after the Greek had won a high-quality first set to put Kyrgios to the test.

Tsitsipas raised his level to exert some pressure on Kyrgios’ delivery after a shaky start that saw only five points won against serve in the first nine games. The Greek let two break points slip as Kyrgios rallied to tie the match at 5-5, but Tsitsipas’ perseverance paid off in the 12th game when he converted his sixth set point to take the lead.

After falling behind, the Australian quickly recovered, frequently displaying his unique shotmaking ability. Kyrgios broke twice to send an exciting battle into a deciding set with a couple of rasping flat forehands that had the crowd on their feet. However, it was Kyrgios who took advantage of a lapse in Tsitsipas’ game, his ability to find winners from anywhere on the court helping him to a crucial break for 5-4 before serving out to love.

Kyrgios, 27, will face Pablo Carreno Busta in the next round after defeating Sebastian Korda 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 earlier on Wednesday.

(Inputs from IANS)