Much quieter, much more relaxed than his previous match, Nick Kyrgios overcame a troublesome right shoulder to serve 35 aces and beat Brandon Nakashima 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-2 at Wimbledon on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in 7½ years.
The unseeded Kyrgios improved to 6-0 in his five-set career at the All England Club and earned his career-leading 11th grass-court victory of the season.
“I need a glass of wine, for sure, tonight. For sure,” Kyrgios told the crowd during his on-court interview in London after swapping his compliant white cap and boots for red versions.
Playing in front of a near-full house on Center Court, the 27-year-old Australian only occasionally displayed his unusual repertoire of trick shots – a between-the-legs swing here, an underarm serve there – or the temper that has earned him $10,000 fines for spitting in the direction of a booing spectator at the end of his first-round match and US$4,000 for flagrant indecency during his upset win over No. 4 seed Stephanos Tsitsipas in the third round.
Against Nakashima, an unseeded 20-year-old from California, Kyrgios was repeatedly visited during changeovers by a trainer who massaged and manipulated his shoulder. There was a stretch where Kyrgios’ high-speed serves dropped from over 217 kilometers per hour to closer to 177, but eventually he seemed to overcome that and went back to making unreturnable offers time and time again.
This is how victory is sealed 👏 pic.twitter.com/l8VeZmTTvf
—@Wimbledon
After Nakashima leveled things up by taking the fourth set with a break, then took a 1-0 lead in the fifth, Kyrgios reached the final. He won five games in a row before serving to finish at love-30: winning on a crosscourt forehand; staying in 11 shots until Nakashima missed a backhand; 216 km/h service winner; forehand volley winner.
“I’ve been playing a lot of tennis for the last month and a half. I’m just proud of the way I steadied the ship,” Kyrgios said. “Honestly, that’s what I was thinking: I’ve never lost a five-set match here. … I was like, ‘I’ve been here before. I’ve done it before.’
Garin wins in comeback fashion
This will be Kyrgios’ third appearance in a major quarter-final. The others came as a teenager at Wimbledon in 2014 — when he surprised then-No. 1 Rafael Nadal on the road – and at the 2015 Australian Open.
“I came out here against one of the greatest of all time and beat Nadal,” Kyrgios said. “So those are all the things I have in my mind.”
TFW you come back from two sets down and save two match points to reach the Wimbledon QF. pic.twitter.com/OXsu2A9JY8
—@atptour
Kyrgios then faces unseeded Cristian Garin, the 26-year-old from Chile, who authored the first comeback in two weeks from two sets down, saving two match points and turning things around to beat No. 19 Alex de Minaur with 2-6, 5-7 , 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (10-6) after more than 4 1/2 hours.
Garin, who is ranked 43rd, reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in his 15th major appearance.
Dombrowski eliminated
Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Australian partner John Pearce were eliminated in the mixed doubles quarterfinals at Wimbledon on Monday, ending Canada’s participation in the professional draw at the grass-court Grand Slam.
Dabrovski and Pearce fell 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to Mate Pavic of Croatia and Sania Mizra of India.
Peirce and Dabrowski, seeded fourth in the tournament, combined for 13 aces but converted just one of their three break chances. Pavic and Mizra twice broke their opponents in three opportunities.
Pavic is a former partner of Dabrovski. They won the Australian Open in 2018 and reached the final of the French Open in 2018 and 2019.
Dabrowski and Mexican partner Juliana Olmos were eliminated from the women’s doubles tournament on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Americans Danielle Colinas and Desiree Krawczyk.
Canadians in the singles main draw – Denis Shapovalov, Bianca Andreescu, Felix Auger-Aliasime and Rebecca Marino – were eliminated in the first two rounds at the All England Club.
Several Canadians still play in the junior draw at Wimbledon.
Nadal converts the 4th match point to seal victory
Everything was going smoothly for Rafael Nadal against Bottic van de Zandshulp until it was time to close out their fourth round match at Wimbledon.
Serving for victory at 5-3 in the third set, Nadal was broken for the second time in the match and then failed to convert three match points in a row as he led 6-3 in the ensuing tiebreak.
However, that was the end of the Dutchman’s resistance as Nadal converted his fourth match point to win 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (6) on Center Court.
The Spaniard is playing his first grass-court tournament since 2019, when he lost to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals. He is seeking his third Wimbledon title and has a chance for a calendar year Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open and French Open to take his career to a record 22 major titles.
He will next face 11th seed Taylor Fritz, the only American left in the draw. The 24-year-old is yet to drop a set and will make his major quarter-final debut after beating qualifier Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.
2019 champion Halep moves on
Simona Halep lived up to her status as the only former Grand Slam champion left in this year’s women’s draw.
The Romanian defeated fourth seed Paula Badosa 6-1, 6-2 on Center Court to return to the Wimbledon quarter-finals and extend her winning streak at the All England Club to 11 matches.
16th-seeded Halep won the title in 2019 but missed last year’s edition due to injury, while the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic. However, it was Halep’s first win over a top-5 player on grass.
The former No. 1, who also won the 2018 French Open, is yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament and has consistently dominated Badossa in main-line contests. She finished with just nine unforced errors and saved the only break point she faced.
Badosa’s loss means No. 3 Ons Jabeur is the only remaining top 10 seed in the women’s tournament.
Halep will meet No. 20 Amanda Anisimova, the 20-year-old American who beat Harmony Tan of France 6-2, 6-3. Anisimova had eliminated French Open runner-up Coco Gauff last week; Tan eliminated 23-time major champion Williams in the first round.
The other quarter-final on their side of the court will be 17th seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan against Ayla Tomljanovic of Australia. Rybakina reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Petra Martic, while Tomljanovic is there for the second consecutive year after beating Alize Cornet 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Cornet ended No. 1 Iga Svetek’s 37-game winning streak on Saturday.
“I really didn’t think I could do it,” said Tomljanovic, who lost to eventual champion Ash Barty in the quarterfinals last year. “After some tough times this year, I thought, ‘Will I ever get another chance?’ I can’t believe that a year later I’m in the same position.”
Add Comment