The raging bull

LONDON, July 4 

Third seed and twice-champion Rafa Nadal emerged victorious from a memorable four-set duel with Australian wild man Nick Kyrgios that delivered everything it had promised in front of an enraptured Wimbledon Centre Court crowd today.

The fiery Kyrgios threw everything he had at Nadal — including an extraordinary 143mph second-serve ace — and undoubtedly had him rattled before the Spaniard eventually prevailed 6-3 3-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3). It was the best match of Wimbledon’s opening week as, amongst the expected histrionics, both men hit the heights with some relentlessly powerful and accurate serving in particular.

Nadal started strongly, got pegged back as Kyrgios fuelled himself with fury in a second set full of incident, then came through a high-octane tiebreak to take the third. The 43rd ranked Kyrgios then gave a reminder that amid all the antics there is a player of huge quality, one of the few with the weapons to challenge the game’s dominant trio, with 33-year-old Nadal the one he seems most able to unsettle.

Nadal was in complete control in the early stages and Kyrgios seemingly needed an injection of emotion — or anger — to fire him up. The Spaniard duly provided it with his slow-motion movement between points and a surprise toilet break after the first set. “Why am I waiting to serve?” Kyrgios asked the umpire — the first of a series of progressively angry exchanges. 

The Australian made his mark when he blasted a 143mph (230kph) second-serve ace — the fastest serve of any sort during the tournament so far and the second-fastest second serve in ATP history. He followed up with another ace — via a gentle under-arm lob — though still lost the first set comfortably. Kyrgios was far more impressive in the second as he levelled the match.

If it made the Australian happy, however, it was hard to tell as he kept up a running dialogue with the umpire, which earned him a warning. “You’re no-one. You think you’re important. You have no idea what’s going on. You’re a disgrace,” he said.

When Kyrgios did concentrate on his tennis, he was full of invention and variety — introducing an Ali shuffle after his big winners and upsetting a rival he already had history with by launching a return straight at him at the net, earning a glare in return. Nadal, with 18 Grand Slam titles to his name, was somehow playing second fiddle to a mid-ranked player who tells anyone who will listen that he barely cares whether he wins or loses. Five years ago, he stunned the Spaniard here in the win that announced him to the world and the 24-year-old came into today’s game with a 3-3 career head-to-head record.

Flying Federer 

Roger Federer dashed home hopes of an outlandish upset by easing into the third round with a 6-1 7-6(3) 6-2 win over world No. 169 Jay Clarke. Federer had never lost a Grand Slam match to somebody as low as Clarke in the rankings and, despite the Briton putting up a brave fight in the second set, the Swiss never had to get out of second gear. — Reuters

Day 4: Highlights

TOP CLASS BARTY    

Top seed Ash Barty needed less than an hour to dispatch Alison Van Uytvanck 6-1 6-3. 

KONTA VS STEPHENS    

Johanna Konta won 6-3 6-4 against Katerina Siniakova to set up a Round 3 clash with Sloane Stephens who crushed Wang Yafan 6-0 6-2.

KVITOVA through

Sixth seed Petra Kvitova beat Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 6-2. Fourth seed Kiki Bertens saved a match point to beat Taylor Townsend 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2. 

Serena tested again

For the second time in four days Serena Williams found herself being whipped by a high school teenager but in the end it was Williams dishing out the punishment as she stormed to a 2-6 6-2 6-4 win over Kaja Juvan.

Glorious GAUFF 

Cori Gauff continued her magical debut as she became the youngest player since 1991 to reach the third round. The 15-year-old defeated 2017 semifinalist Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-3. She is the youngest player in the last-32 since Jennifer Capriati, also 15, went all the way to the semifinals 28 years ago.

Slick Nishikori 

Kei Nishikori produced a solid performance to defeat Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4 6-0.

CILIC KNOCKED OUT

Joao Sousa reached the third round with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory over 2017 runner-up Marin Cilic.

Kerber shocked

Defending champion Angelique Kerber was dumped out as she suffered a 2-6 6-2 6-1 defeat to world No. 95 Lauren Davis.