'Greatest match outside Grand Slam': Nick Kyrgios' ex-coach delivers verdict on his Miami Open defeat to Roger Federer

Miami Open winner Roger Federer's semi-final clash against Nick Kyrgios has been hailed as one of the "greatest matches outside a Grand Slam" by the latter's former coach Todd Larkham.

The Swiss maestro won the tournament after defeating Rafael Nadal in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to clinch his third title in Miami. He made it to the final after beating Kyrgios in a three-set thriller.

Federer was involved in a three-hour classic with the Australian in the second semi-final of the Miami Open. All three sets were decided on tiebreaker with the former world number one winning the first and the third sets with the final scoreline reading 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (11-9), 7-6 (7-5).

Larkham, who was Kyrgios' coach for over a decade before the pair decided to split in 2014, was greatly impressed with his performance against Federer.

"The match with Nick and Federer was possibly one of the greatest matches outside a grand slam that I've ever seen," Larkham explained, as quoted by the Canberra Times.

"There was nothing in it, only a couple points, and Nick has shown he can match it with anyone now which is awesome.

"They both played an incredibly high level of tennis, Nick is a great competitor but so is Federer and it came down to just a few points in the tiebreak where Fed came up with the shots."

Federer's success in Miami was his third title in 2017, having already won the Australian Open and Indian Wells. He started this season after returning from a six-month injury layoff that saw him miss the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Larkham hailed Federer's comeback from the injury and believes the 35-year-old still got a "couple more years" to play at the top.

"He's playing amazing tennis, he finds a way to continue to win these close matches and he's won a lot of close ones this year," he stressed.

"Physically he's still got a couple more years in him which is incredible, he just plays so efficiently and fluently and doesn't seem to expend the energy of his opponents.

"We love watching great champions in all sports and it's awesome to see him keep going and building on his record which is already the best ever."