After the win Nick Kyrgios earned for himself half-a-million dollars, a handy rankings boost and a sombrero for crowning a glorious week in Acapulco with the fifth ATP title of his career.
Australian Nick Kyrgios stunned German second seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 to win the Acapulco International in Mexico on Saturday.
The temperamental Aussie, whose scintillating run to the final included wins over multiple Grand Slam winners Stanislas Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal, played free and focused from the outset and frustrated Zverev with a steady diet of drop shots.
Former world number 13 Kyrgios, who has fallen to 72 in the rankings, converted three of his break point opportunities and sealed the win on his first championship point with a massive serve that was too much for world number three Zverev to handle.
Second-seeded Zverev hadn't dropped a set en route to the final, but couldn't win any against Kyrgios, who will regain his place in the world's top 50 after hoisting his first trophy in almost 14 months.
Zverev is Kyrgios's fourth big scalp in six days after he had also recorded wins over Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, and John Isner to make the title match.
"Well done to Nick – he beat three top-10 players and Stan, who's a grand slam champion. So to beat four players like that in a 500 (series) event, you deserve to be the champion," said a gracious Zverev.
"He's the one who deserves to win the tournament this week."
The 23-year-old Australian opened the second set with a break but then looked like he may start to crack when he found himself staring down a break point in the next game and double-faulted, allowing Zverev to draw level at 1-1.
But Kyrgios' nerves held up and he broke again in the fifth game and then held steady the rest of the way as he collected his first tournament win since Brisbane in January 2018.
Zverev, competing in only his second tournament of the year after crashing out of the fourth round of the Australian Open, arrived in the final in solid form having not dropped a set all week but had no answer for Kyrgios.
Meanwhile, Kyrgios's countryman Alex de Minaur, who succumbed to Zverev in the quarter-finals, will climb to a career-high No 23 in the world after his run in Mexico.
With the win, Kyrgios improved to 4-3 in career head-to-head meetings against Zverev.
