Wimbledon
is a different surface – he knows – and his opponent little known Nick Kyrgios
never doubted that he had the talent to do it. At Wimbledon,
when Rafa Nadal dropped his serve to go
3-1 down in the fourth set, he had a nagging fear that had no way of stopping
him doing it. On a day when title
contenders Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal were beaten back-to-back on Centre Court, their
unexpected upsets sent respective draws into complete disarray. The score card reads : Nick Kyrgios d Rafael Nadal 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3 – a shocker
as a 19-year-old wild card, Kyrgios who had made headlines for saving nine
match points in a second-round win over Richard Gasquet last week, had a day to
remember at Centre Court ousting Rafael Nadal. In another match Federer
breathed past Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 - not dropping a set and never being
broken en route to the quarter-finals. Federer gets countryman Stan Wawrinka in
the last eight, Roger owning a 13-2 head-to-head edge, though Wawrinka won
their last meeting in the Monte Carlo Masters final in April.
With
Serena Williams and Li Na out of the singles draw, all eyes were on Sharapova
as the odds-on favorite to win the title. Angelique Kerber, the German had
other ideas battling out Sharapova - 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4. The loss means that
Sharapova continues her search for a second Wimbledon,
now over a decade old. Kerber, meanwhile, moves into the quarter-finals against
No.13 seed Genie Bouchard.
Stat
of the Day: The first set of the
Wawrinka-Lopez saw the 100th tie-break of the men’s tournament at The
Championships this year, marking the first time in history that the number of
tie-breaks at a Grand Slam has reached triple figures in either the men’s or
the women’s event. Kyrgios is the first player ranked outside the Top 100 to
defeat a world No.1 at a Grand Slam since No.193 Andrei Olhovskiy defeated Jim
Courier in the third round at Wimbledon in
1992. Kyrgios is the lowest-ranked player to defeat Nadal since No.690 Joachim
Johansson at Stockholm
in 2006.
For William
fans – it was sad as Serena Williams
walked onto No.1 Court
on Tuesday appearing ready for her second-round doubles match alongside sister
Venus, but certainly was not. The No.1 player in the world began her warm-up
with stumbles and mis-hits, unable to catch balls thrown to her from the ball
kids in the backcourt. After sitting down and being consulted by the tournament
doctor for a matter of minutes, Williams began play, eventually serving at 0-2
down. It was then that she woefully double-faulted four times in a row, her
serves hitting the bottom of the net. She and Venus retired for the match, and
it was later confirmed that Williams had a viral illness after being dizzy and
visibly out of sorts.
The mother of the tennis’s new superstar Norlalia, meanwhile,
must have been wording her congratulatory text carefully. She had given an
interview to Australian TV the night before the match and had predicted that
her son might not be able to win; that man Nadal was just a bit too good. “That
made me a little bit angry the night before,” Kyrgios said. “I don’t know what
she’s thinking. She can think what she wants.
With regards
– S. Sampathkumar
2nd
July 2014
PS: photo and inputs credit – official web – wimbledon.com
