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Kyrgios heaps praise on Federer ahead of semi

Miami - Nick Kyrgios acknowledged that Roger Federer is playing some of the best tennis of his career ahead of their final-four clash at the Miami Open on Saturday.

The Swiss Maestro followed up his Australian Open triumph with a win at Indian Wells, the 35-year-old's 25th Masters 1000 title.

"He's playing incredible at the moment," Kyrgios said of the veteran after his quarter-final win on Thursday.

"He's had a great year. He obviously looks very healthy and is moving very, very good. I'm not going to think about it too much at the moment. I'm going to serve big and play big. That's my game style that I've had success with, so that's what I'm going to bring."

Meanwhile, Kyrgios is enjoying a good start to 2017 as well and Saturday will see him compete in his third semi-final of the year.

The Australian may be the underdog this weekend, but he will no doubt be buoyed by his win over Federer at the Madrid Masters in 2015, the only other time they have faced each other.

Speaking of Kyrgios' youthful exuberance, Federer believes it's certainly an advantage heading into the business end of tournaments. 

"They like the big stage and the belief they have makes them tough to play in any given match," said Federer of the ATP's rising stars.

"The question with those guys coming up is what can they bring every single day? How is the mind and the body coping through the newer stress for them that they're experiencing? Some weeks you feel great, some weeks you don't feel so good. That's normal when you're younger and still trying to figure everything out, what their best surface is, how they need to play against certain player types."

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