Aussie teen Kyrgios hands Nadal shock defeat

19-year-old Australian Kyrgios is first wildcard in 10 years to make last eight after stunning upset of Nadal

Jul 02, 2014 10:00 am

Rafael Nadal was sent tumbling out of Wimbledon by Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios this morning (Singapore time), as the Spaniard suffered another All England Club meltdown which in turn opened the title door for Roger Federer.

World No. 144 Kyrgios, just 19 and making his tournament debut, bundled out the 14-time Grand Slam title winner in the fourth round with a fearless 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 victory.

The defeat boosted Federer's hopes of an eighth title, as the Swiss star was seeded to meet Nadal in the semi-finals.

The seven-time champion had earlier booked a place in the quarter-finals for the 12th time, with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win over Tommy Robredo.

He will tackle Australian Open champion and Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka, the fifth seed, who made his first last-eight date at the All England Club at the 10th attempt, by seeing off Spain's Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.

But Kyrgios was the talk of the town, as he became the first wildcard in 10 years to make the quarter-finals.

He is also the first player ranked outside the top 100 to defeat a world No. 1, since Andrei Olhovskiy stunned Jim Courier in the Wimbledon third round in 1992.

It was a performance of brutal inventiveness and uninhibited bludgeoning from a man who had had to save nine match-points in his second-round game against Richard Gasquet, and his reward is a clash with Canada's Milos Raonic for a place in the semi-finals.

DISAPPOINTING

For Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, it was a third successive disappointing Wimbledon, following a first-round exit last year and a second-round defeat in 2012.

All three defeats were against players outside the top 100.

But he cannot argue with the statistics of his Centre Court demolition, which showed Kyrgios firing 37 aces and 70 winners.

"I played some extraordinary tennis. I was struggling a little bit on my returns, but I worked my way into it and I got that break in the fourth set. I served at a really good level throughout the match, so I was really happy," said Kyrgios.

Nadal said that the defeat was hard to take, as he lost serve only once.

"On a surface like this where he serves and hits every ball strongly, you are in trouble," said the second seed.

"I didn't think I played that badly. I was better in the first and third sets, but I wasn't able to convert my opportunities. He was better at the other times. He did the things he needed to do to win on grass better than me.

"I congratulate him. For me? The beach."

Meanwhile, Serena Williams was at the centre of a health scare yesterday, when she wept and appeared to be close to fainting in a doubles match with sister Venus.

Serena, the world No. 1 singles player, called the doctor to Court One just after she and Venus had warmed up for their second-round match against Kristina Barrois and Stephanie Voegele.

She broke down in tears as she consulted with the doctor and physio, before the tournament referee and supervisor were called to the court in a reflection of her status in the sport.

After a 15-minute delay, Serena served up four double-faults in her first service game, wobbled on the baseline before Venus led her back to her chair by the hand.

Umpire Kader Nouni, having already come down from his chair to talk to the Americans, announced that Serena was retiring from the match through illness with the sisters trailing 3-0.

The WTA Tour said that Serena was suffering from "a viral illness".  - AFP.

RESULTS

Men’s singles 4th rd