The tussle with Gasquet tops the bill on Court Two on the second Monday of Wimbledon and could be the stand-out match of the day, with both men playing flamboyant, crowd-pleasing tennis. Fans and staff at Wimbledon observed a minut…
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Hot-head Kyrgios has courted controversy in the tournament, denying calling an official “dirty scum” during his first match before suggesting an official in the second round thought “he was a big dog”. Then came an epic, 18-point game that began Williams’ comeback.
“We’ve been facing each other a long time“, said the 16th-seeded Venus, who eliminated 82nd-ranked Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-3, 6-2.
Also Friday, women’s No. 1 Serena Williams was slated to face Britain’s Heather Watson.
As he left the court he was inundated with requests for autographs – including one more unusual one. “He’s going to make a lot more returns”.
“I think if I play the right style of tennis, obviously if I’m serving well, feeling good out there, I think I can go close”.
“They told me to turn it around, so I turned it around”, Kyrgios, who hit 34 aces, said later.
A clever early drop shot pointed to the subtlety of the 6ft 4in Australian, before he then tossed away the first set with his trio of double faults to the deuce court.
The showman that is Nick Kyrgios admits the spotlight at grand slams brings out his best tennis, which is why he believes he can be crowned Wimbledon champion in a week’s time.
Coco Vandeweghe, one of six American women in the third round, reached the last 16 at a Slam for the first time with a 6-2, 6-0 win over 2011 USA Open champion Sam Stosur of Australia. But that did no more than exacerbate his main problem, which was the sheer ferocity and inventiveness coming his way from the other side of the net.
After turning it on the third set, Kyrgios was asked if it was the headband that inspired him.
While Dimitrov showed flashes of his talent the defeat will do little to silence critics who have questioned whether he can make the most of his potential.
Kyrgios fought back from a set down against the Canadian with a spirited display, the Australian winning 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, while Gasquet raced past 11th seed Dimitrov 6-3 6-4 6-4.
The Canadian said he had been expecting to have these issues during his recovery, but it just became too much to overcome against Kyrgios, the 20-year-old rising star who stunned star Spaniard Rafael Nadal here previous year. Shortly afterwards Kyrgios tried to win a point with a volley played from between his legs.
Raonic underwent foot surgery in May which kept him out of the French Open.
The Swiss overwhelmed Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 6-4 6-3 6-4 yesterday and has acknowledged he is the one player who Djokovic actively dislikes facing.
Kyrgios will play 21st seed Richard Gasquet in the last 16.
A year ago, Kyrgios rallied from two sets down and saved nine match points to beat Gasquet in the second round.
Nick Kyrgios’s one-man spectacular, equal parts performance art, dramatic monologue and top-notch tennis, will run on into the second week of Wimbledon.
Nick Kyrgios is fresh off a four set match against Milos Raonic, which finished in just under three hours. However, he had to turn it inside out after it was apparently deemed too colorful for the tournament’s all-white dress code.
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“He’s played plenty of Wimbledons”. Goffin is the fourth Belgian man in the Open era to get this far at Wimbledon, after Dick Norman, Xavier Malisse and Olivier Rochus. On Friday, there were times when it was tempting to wonder what the reticent Raonic might have been thinking as Kyrgios gamboled about, enjoying all the attention.
