Rafael Nadal’s days of living dangerously at Wimbledon were finally ended on Tuesday by a 144th-ranked teenage tyro who came armed with an inexhaustible supply of aces and wonder-shots.
For the fourth match in a row at this year’s grasscourt championships, the Spaniard surrendered the first set.
19-year-old Australian wildcard Nick Kyrgios proved to be no pushover and Nadal ran out of Wimbledon lives as he went down fighting in a 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 fourth-round defeat.
Kyrgios fired down 37 aces and played a fearless brand of tennis to topple the world number one following two hours 58 minutes of exhilarating action.
It was the first time since 1992 a man ranked outside the top 100 had beaten a world number one.
“It hasn’t sunk in at all what just played out there. I played some extraordinary tennis,” said Kyrgios who is enjoying a remarkable run at these championships having saved nine match points in his third-round win over Richard Gasquet.
When our own reporter Michael Yiakoumi introduced himself to Nick Kyrgios, the new tennis star replied by saying “Yiassou” to prove his Greek heritage.
Nick also told Parikiaki that his father was born in Greece and immigrated to Australia in 1962 and that his mother was from Indonesia.
Michael Yiakoumi said after meeting Kyrgios that he is very humble , down to earth a fine character and with his aggression and skills on the tennis court he is a star in the making.
Michael then congratulated Nick on his win and that he has brought a breath of fresh air to tennis and admired his cheekiness and confidence.
“You’ve got to believe that you can win the match from the start and I definitely thought that. I am playing some unbelievable tennis on the grass,” he told reporters.
“My mind’s buzzing … I’m just going to enjoy this.”
Kyrgios certainly had the crowd buzzing after causing the biggest shock of this year’s men’s tournament by bringing the 2008 and 2010 champion to his knees.
He opened with an ace, won the first set with an ace and sealed victory with an ace.
While Nadal might have been fed up with the number of thunderbolts that whistled past his ears, those lucky to watch the Australian come of age will know that he is not simply an ace machine.
JAW-DROPPING SIZZLERS
After dropping only four points on serve in the first set, Kyrgios had 15,000 fans leaping to their feet as he followed up jaw-dropping crosscourt sizzlers with breathtaking down-the-line winners.
As if that was not enough, he irked Nadal by producing perhaps the shot of the tournament.
Facing the net near the baseline, he whipped his racket around his back and nonchalantly flicked a shot between his legs that flew over the net for an audacious winner.
The teenager loved it, the crowd loved it, Nadal hated it.
The 14-times grand slam champion’s day was unravelling fast and despite winning the second set he was left gasping as Kyrgios kept on believing that he could make his debut outing on Wimbledon’s Centre Court a day to remember.
A forehand error gave Kyrgios a break for a 3-1 lead in the fourth set and from then on the Spaniard was left chasing shadows and at 7.09pm local time, his hopes of a third Wimbledon crown had been snuffed out.
Nick is not new to major events as a junior he won the Boys’ Singles event at the 2013 Australian Open and the Boys’ Doubles event at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships
While one champion was exiting stage left, John McEnroe was hailing the arrival of a man he thinks can go all the way.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a while. We keep saying ‘who is the next guy?’, and I think we’ve found that guy right now,” said the former three-times champion.
“That was absolutely stunning, to see what he did to the world number one today. How did he keep that up? He absolutely believed that he was going to win that match.
“He’s acting to me like he could win this tournament. The last guy I saw like this was Boris Becker – young teenager, no fear whatsoever,” added the American great.
Those were the same traits Nadal showed the world in 2005 when he won the first of his record nine French Open trophies as a 19-year-old.
Almost a decade later the passion still runs deep in the Mallorcan.
“I fought until the very end,” said Nadal whose last three Wimbledons have ended in the second, first and fourth round.
“I am not even angry today because I lost the match despite losing my serve only one time. When you have an opponent who serves and hits every ball very strong, you are in trouble.
“I was not able to read his serve during the whole match. Congratulations to him,” added Nadal. “For me, I am going to go to the beach in Mallorca.”
Kyrgios can forget about getting any rest or relaxation anytime soon as he will have less than 24 hours to recover from Tuesday’s heroics before taking on big-serving Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic for a place in the semi-finals.
The hype over tennis’s “next big thing” Nick Kyrgios exploded in Australia on Wednesday as news of the teenager’s stunning upset of 14-times grand slam champion Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon broke.
Once a global super-power in the sport, Australia has waited in vain for a new men’s talent to take the mantle from an ageing Lleyton Hewitt and 19-year-old Kyrgios’s stylish advance to the Wimbledon quarters propelled a tidal wave of accolades from former players, Hollywood celebrities and politicians.
A lead story on all of the major news networks and websites, Kyrgios’s hopes of “keeping it real” may be undermined by the constant comparisons to other barnstorming teenagers of yesteryear.
Where American great John McEnroe saw in Kyrgios a 17-year-old Boris Becker on the rise, Australian doubles great Todd Woodbridge gleaned a young Pete Sampras.
Australia’s 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash likened Kyrgios to another big-server with Greek heritage in Mark Philippoussis, the twice grand slam finalist.
The outrageous between-the-legs winner that Kyrgios finessed from the baseline to leave Nadal flatfooted was seized upon as proof the 144th-ranked Kyrgios had the confidence and the game to mix it with the world’s greats.