After a seven-year wait, Nick Kyrgios is a Grand Slam quarter-finalist once again.
In front of a full house on Centre Court, the Australian combined power with guile to edge American Brandon Nakashima 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-2 in a hard-fought three-hour and 10-minute five-set thriller.
The 27-year-old, who upset World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round, recovered from a slow start and a right shoulder problem to strike his groundstrokes more freely as the match went on. The World No. 40 hammered 77 winners and broke the 20-year-old Nakashima four times to improve to 11-2 on grass in 2022.
The last time Kyrgios reached the last eight at a major came back at the Australian Open in 2015, while he also advanced to this stage on debut at The Championships in 2014. The six-time tour-level champion will next play Chilean Cristian Garin as he looks to break new ground and reach his first Grand Slam singles semi-final.
Australian qualifier Jason Kubler is also in action against American Taylor Fritz on Monday on Court No. 1. If Kubler can win, it will be the first time that two Australian men have reached the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2000, when Mark Philippoussis and Pat Rafer enjoyed runs to the last eight.
In their first ATP Head2Head meeting, it was Nakashima who started the better. The American looked at home on the Centre Court stage, outmanoeuvring Kyrgios with his aggressive ball striking, while he dictated on serve, winning 93 per cent (14/15) of points behind his first delivery to lead.
However, playing against Kyrgios on a big occasion is never easy, and the Australian showed why in a much-improved second-set display. The 27-year-old started to hit through Nakashima and caused the American problems with his variety, closing the net effectively to level.
In a tight third set that went the distance, Kyrgios pulled off a string of stunning shots in the tie-break, timing his groundstrokes to perfection on return to move ahead, lifting the decibel level inside Centre Court.
Nakashima refused to go away in the fourth set, though. The American played more consistently, while he also showed flashes of magic to fire an array of winners past Kyrgios, levelling the match up to force a decider.
Kyrgios quickly regained his focus in the fifth set, targeting Nakashima’s forehand to great effect to gain an early break. From there, the Australian held his nerve on serve, powering to victory against the tiring American.
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