But it sure is hard to just talk about tennis with all the drama surrounding it. In a match that lived up to all expectations, going from gripping, quality tennis to farcical, unadulterated mayhem, Kyrgios dug deep into the soul of Stefanos Tsitsipas and eventually emerged victorious, defeating Tsitsipas 6-7 (2), 6 – 4, 6-3 7-6 (7) to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon. After a week of talk of empty seats and low attendances around the stadium, this was certainly not such an example. Before the match started, all the seats were taken and lines of fans circled the pitch as seemingly everyone in the ground tried to be present for the biggest match of the tournament so far. Throughout the first set, Kyrgios was clearly the better player, going through his own service games while putting pressure on Tsitsipas of his own. But Tsitsipas saved every break point, kept his head down and focused only on himself, refusing to be distracted. When Kyrgios double-faulted at 1-1 in the tiebreak, Tsitsipas was ready and broke through to take the set. Stefanos Tsitsipas talks to the referee during the match. Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images It’s fair to say that the calm and cool didn’t last long. Throughout the match, Kyrgios did what he often does. He argued with the referee about line calls. He called people he disagreed with stupid. The linesmen kept reporting his comments to the referee. But his tennis was there too – he took the second set with a moment of genius, fending off Tsitsipas for a forehand winner. As that set slipped away from him, Tsitsipas finally broke through. He sent a backhand into the lower part of the crowd, just below his player’s box, and was extremely lucky not to hit anyone. Angered by Tsitsipas only receiving a code violation, Kyrgios spent the time before the start of the third set shouting loudly at the umpire, the supervisor and anyone who would listen, trying to get Tsitsipas out of the match. “You can’t hit a ball into the crowd and hit somebody and not get charged,” he said. As Kyrgios unloaded on the supervisor, Tsitsipas told the referee that his opponent had “zero respect”. Toxicity threatened to derail the match, yet tennis still responded With the level of competition and Kyrgios completely in his head, Tsitsipas fell further into madness. At 3-1, 40-0 Kyrgios dropped an underarm serve, to which Tsitsipas responded by sprinting to the ball and slapping it to the back fence. As Kyrgios smirked, Tsitsipas received a code violation and a points penalty. Later in the set, Tsitsipas slapped the ball as hard as he could at Kyrgios as he stood helpless at the net, narrowly missing. Toxicity threatened to derail the match, yet tennis still responded. After looking like he had mentally checked out of the match, Tsitsipas recovered magnificently, saving four break points in the opening game of the fourth set, then pressing Kyrgios on serve. With his back against the wall in the set, Kyrgios was red hot, holding spectacularly from 0-40 down to 3-4. Deep into the fourth set tie-break he was completely stressed. He knocked down a series of dresses to bring up match point and then finished with a fine drop shot. Quick guide
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Thanks for your response. Drama aside, the result is clear. Kyrgios is playing the best tennis of his life and walked away with a monumental victory that gave him one of the biggest opportunities of his career. Kyrgios will now face Brandon Nakashima for a place in his first Wimbledon quarter-final since his 2014 breakthrough. The highest seed left in his division in the draw is Alex De Minaur, the 19th seed, and none of the remaining players there have reached a grand slam semi-final. Kyrgios is clearly the favourite. Such opportunities for a deep run at Wimbledon don’t come around often and it remains to be seen if he will continue this progress or if the chaos he creates will eventually engulf him as well.
