By the end Kyrgios looked utterly downcast, having been bewildered by the variety of his opponent’s game as Murray mixed crunching cross-court forehands and thumping backhand winners with delightful variations of pace and spin.
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London’s hallowed centre court at Wimbledon brings a different dynamic to the match-up.
With Kyrgios serving at 4-5 in the first set, Murray swiftly earned three set points at love-40.
The victor will play either Richard Gasquet or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals.
There were times when Murray seemingly had Kyrgios on a string as he pulled the world No.18 into the net with deft drop shots and then sent him scampering back to retrieve killing lobs. “The sooner he does that, the better for him and his career”. I don’t say anything.
“The first set was very tight”.
“I was really comfortable out there the first set. I have to go out there believing”.
It was the breaking point for Kyrgios, who is without a coach at present, and the Aussie showed his mental weakness under the glare of the spotlight.
He had won all 18 previous tour-level matches against men from Down Under, including four against Kyrgios, three of them a year ago at the other grand slams. “The rest of the match was pretty pathetic”, Kyrgios said. “But Andy, I don’t know, it’s different”. It’s just good to have one of the best players in the world, to have a good friend like that obviously. If he plays well, I’m not on my game, I can lose that match for sure.
The 15th seed was competitive in the first set but completely lost focus in the second, yelling to himself and his support box at regular intervals – and it was that the drew the ire of tennis legends John McEnroe and Pat Cash. “Felt like a mountain to climb”.
Kyrgios chose to prepare for an incredibly tough match against the world No 2 by sitting out on Court 18 in cold conditions watching Aussie compatriot Lleyton Hewitt play his doubles match. Ultimately, it comes down to just laying it all out there and competing for a long time. “I didn’t do that today at all”.
“One week, I’m pretty motivated to train and play”.
Pouille, who had never been past the second round of a grand slam before, won 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-4 10-8 in just under three hours.
“Tsonga who is a top grass court player and I’ll need to play very well to win that one”, said Murray, who is on a 26-match winning streak against French players.
Despite his abject dejection, Kyrgios said it was “diabolical” to suggest he might walk away from tennis.
TVNZ has extensive coverage of this year’s tournament – LIVE games, highlights and replays of the biggest game of the day.
Kyrgios is a two-time grand-slam quarter-finalist, reaching the last eight at Wimbledon in 2014 and the 2015 Australian Open.
“He’s an fantastic player, and for me to beat him that comfortably just showed how I’m playing”.
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There is guaranteed to be more of that after this performance, and this time Murray was in no mood to defend the 21-year-old.
