Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios caused a sensational upset as he beat world number one Rafael Nadal to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old wildcard’s huge serve helped him to a 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory on his Centre Court debut, and he will play Milos Raonic next.<\/p>\n
Ranked 144, Kyrgios is the first man outside the top 100 to beat a world number one at a Grand Slam since 1992.<\/p>\n
Nadal, 27, has failed to make the last eight at Wimbledon since 2011.<\/p>\n
He lost in the second round two years ago, the first round last year, and now experiences the kind of defeat not suffered by someone at the top of the rankings since Jim Courier’s loss to world number 193 Andrei Olhovskiy at Wimbledon 22 years ago.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard had lost the first set in each of his first three matches before recovering to win in four, but could not repeat the effort against a rampant Kyrgios.<\/p>\n
Despite being tipped for greatness by the likes of Andy Murray and Pat Cash in recent weeks, Kyrgios had only claimed his first top-50 win last week when he saved nine match points to beat Richard Gasquet in the second round.<\/p>\n
But firing down aces, racing between points and leaping in celebration, the young Australian took Centre Court by storm.<\/p>\n
“I was in a bit of a zone out there and didn’t really notice the crowd,” Kyrgios told BBC Sport. “I was struggling a little on return but I worked my way into it and I served really well throughout, so am very happy.<\/p>\n
“You have to believe that you can win the match from the start and I definitely did. I am playing really well on grass.”<\/p>\n
Nadal pressed as best he could in the face of a barrage, lining up a forehand at 30-30 in game six only to see a backhand rocket back past him, and his opponent leap and punch the air in celebration.
\nJohn McEnroe on Kyrgios<\/p>\n
Kyrgios saw his opponent save two set points on serve before calmly hammering an ace out wide to clinch it.<\/p>\n
When Kyrgios hit an outrageous winner between his legs in the second set, it appeared he could do no wrong, and Nadal had failed to win a point on the Australian’s first serve as they headed towards a second tie-break.<\/p>\n
That run came to an end when Kyrgios fell 30-40 down at 6-5, and after saving a set point – and first break point – with another ace, he could only find the net as Nadal leapt on his opportunity.<\/p>\n
A huge fist pump illustrated the relief felt by the two-time champion, but the rhythm of the match did not alter.<\/p>\n
The third set followed a similar pattern, with Nadal looking marginally more likely to break, but again Kyrgios grabbed his chance as the tie-break sped by.<\/p>\n
When a set point arrived, the teenager stepped in on a second serve and blasted a forehand return that a scrambling Nadal failed to recover.<\/p>\n
Kyrgios stood, arms raised in celebration, and Nadal trooped back to his chair knowing he was facing an early exit for the third year running despite having not yet dropped serve.<\/p>\n
Two heavy backhands helped the wildcard finally make the breakthrough to move 3-1 ahead in the fourth set, and he powered through to the finish line, sealing the win of his life with ace number 37.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC Sport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios caused a sensational upset as he beat world number one Rafael Nadal to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. The 19-year-old wildcard’s huge serve helped him to a 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory on his Centre Court debut, and he will play Milos Raonic next. Ranked 144, Kyrgios is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":29171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[3,1549,825,31],"yoast_head":"\n