It wasn’t until he fended off a forehand volley on his first match point in the fifth set that Kyrgios showed any real signs of emotion — looking at the crowd and roaring with joy. The win was also hard-fought as the 27-year-old appeared to be struggling with a shoulder problem throughout the match and needed treatment from physios at 3-2 in the third set. “I definitely need a glass of wine tonight,” he admitted in his on-field interview after the game. Next up for Kyrgios is Chile’s Cristian Garin, who became the first player at this year’s tournament to come back from two sets down as he defeated Australia’s Alex de Minaur. Kyrgios has reached his first grand slam quarter-final in seven years and remains unbeaten in all of his five-set encounters at Wimbledon. “Today, I was pretty much just smiling and laughing to myself on the sidelines, knowing that I was locked in an ultimate battle,” he told reporters. “In the past I couldn’t enjoy that … I almost enjoyed the competitiveness (today).” American Nakashima, playing in his first Grand Slam fourth-round match, won the first set with the first break point of the match, but Kyrgios, despite clutching his shoulder several times, fought back with a break early in the secondly. The serve proved to be Kyrgios’ best weapon, with an ace hitting 137mph as he saw out the set and leveled the match. There were few opportunities for either player to break in the third set, but Kyrgios gained the upper hand in the tiebreak, hitting a cross-court forehand beyond Nakashima’s reach to take the match. The 20-year-old wasn’t done though and broke for a 4-3 lead in the fourth. What followed was a strange passage of play in which Kyrgios seemed to pick up the rest of the set with slow serves and weak ground shots. “Complete rope-a-dope tactics,” he later explained. “I just threw that service game. I knew he was in a rhythm, he was starting to get on me and I just wanted to throw him a little bit.” That meant the match went to a decider, only for Kyrgios to produce some of his best tennis while Nakashima faded. A double break of serve set the stage for victory and Kyrgios finished the match with 35 aces — taking his tournament tally to 103 — and 79 winners. He will now compete in his second Wimbledon quarter-final and first since 2014, when he famously defeated Rafael Nadal in the fourth round as a 19-year-old debutant. His performance on Monday may not have had the same infectious, pulsating energy as his win against Nadal, but it was a triumph nonetheless. “It wasn’t anywhere near my best level performance, but I’m very happy to do it,” Kyrgios said. “I fought really hard today.” Controversy has tended to follow Kyrgios throughout his tennis career, and this year’s Wimbledon was no exception. He was fined $4,000 for verbal profanity in his fight with Tsitsipas, on top of the $10,000 he was fined for unsportsmanlike conduct after spitting at a fan he said disrespected him in his first-round fight with Paul Jubb. But Kyrgios has acknowledged he is a different player and man to the one he faced Nadal eight years ago, as evidenced by his calm exterior on Monday. Earlier this year, he revealed the struggles with mental health issues he has faced throughout his career, recounting his struggles with drug and alcohol abuse, as well as self-harm. On Monday, he could briefly reflect on what he described as his “roller coaster” journey. “Look, there was a time when I had to be forced out of a pub at 4am to play Nadal in the second round,” Kyrgios said. “My agent had to come and get me out of the pub at 4am before I played my match on Center Court at Wimbledon. “I’ve come a long way, that’s for sure. I think it’s daily habits and the people around me… Now, to sit here in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, I feel good, I feel calm, I feel mature and I have that around me, I’m extremely blessed and feel comfortable in my own skin.” Against Garin, a player three places below him in the world rankings but with less experience on the sport’s biggest stages, Kyrgios could enter the final four of a grand slam for the first time. This would be a momentous moment for a player accustomed to riding the highs and lows of a professional tennis career.
