Nick Kyrgios beats Pablo Carreno Busta to reach Halle Open semifinals

Nick Kyrgios produced an impressive performance on Friday at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, beating sixth seed Pablo Carreno Busta to reach his third tour-level semi-final of 2022.

The Australian struck the ball with confidence throughout the one-hour, nine-minute encounter, firing 37 winners including 13 aces.

It took one-hour and nine-minute for Kyrgios to register straight sets victory over Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-2.

"I'm feeling so comfortable on the grass. Today was not easy at all. The scoreline suggests that it was, but he's a dangerous player on all surfaces. He hits the ball quite flat, and he knows how to win matches," said Kyrgios after the match.

"I knew that today I just had to take care of my serve, and just be locked in from the ground because he's a tough competitor," he added.

Kyrgios was almost untouchable on serve from the start against Carreno Busta. The World No. 65 won the first 12 points behind his delivery and dropped just seven points on serve in the match altogether, giving the Spaniard small room to work.

The Australian took control of the match early in the second set as his creative and persistent ball-striking earned him a quick break. Carreno Busta struggled to build any momentum to make a comeback, and this struggle was enough for Kyrgios to wrap up his 15th tour-level victory of the year.

The win backs up Kyrgios' hard-fought victory against World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round.

"Against Tsitsipas I wanted to get that first set. I know how much it means to get on top of those top players early on. Today from the get-go I applied so much pressure on his serve, and I thought I just returned really well today," he said.

In Saturday's semi-finals, Kyrgios will lock horns with Felix Auger-Aliassime or Hubert Hurkacz as he aims to reach his first tour-level championship match appearance of the season.

( With inputs from ANI )