Nick Kyrgios and his unique fire of chaos marched into the fourth round of Wimbledon at the expense of a dazed and confused Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The fourth-seeded Tsitsipas took the first set, but were on the verge of a crash about an hour later, driven to distraction by the latest antics of the enfant terrible of tennis.
A 6-7 (2) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7) win for Australia’s world number 40 does not tell a fraction of the story of a stormy match. At one point, Kyrgios even demanded that his opponent fail after hitting a ball in the crowd and just missed a spectator.
It was the first marquee tent contest at this year’s championships, but it sometimes looked more like a three-ring circus.
“Honestly, it was a hell of an atmosphere and a great game,” said Kyrgios. “I felt I was the favorite coming in. I had my tactics. It was a hell of a game.” He got frustrated at times, but it’s a frustrating sport. Whatever happens on the track, I love him. ”
A chaotic encounter began in relative calm with Kyrgios delivering an almost flawless display of ministry – including a forearm between the legs – in the first set. Kyrgios fell just four points behind his knockout, only to lose his way into the draw when Tsitsipas took the lead.
Kyrgios, meanwhile, demanded a new line judge after one bad call and complained to spectators about another officer before serving, which at one point prompted Tsitsipas to step back into his towel amid pantomime. buoys of the crowd.
But it was all more PG than X-rated at this point, and some of the tennis both men played was breathtaking. At 4-4, two poor Kyrgios defeats gave Tsitsipas a rare chance to break, but a second serve-bait quickly extinguished it.
The next game summed up Kyrgios on a tea; a code-violation for curse, followed by a breathtaking winner of a Tsitsipas overhead to take the second set. The sublime immediately returned to the extremely ridiculous, Tsitsipas angrily slammed a ball into the stands to earn a warning of his own, and Kyrgios insisted he was failing.
While Kyrgios was arguing with everything and everyone, Tsitsipas took a bathroom break, came back and complained about the placement of the towels. When tennis finally resumed, Kyrgios broke for 3-1 with a forehand winner.
Tsitsipas completely lost his head when Kyrgios grabbed with another forearm shot and hit the ball to earn a point deduction. While Tsitsipas complained bitterly to the referee, Kyrgios stood on the baseline and whistled almost innocently as if butter did not want to melt.
Moments later, he bowed to the crowd after landing a shipwreck on top of the net, before falling to Tsitsipas’ side to help clinch the third set and sum up the Greek’s luck. With the clock ticking after 9 p.m., the roof was now and then resuming hostilities, Kyrgios crashed with a bait to take the fourth set to another draw.
It was a brilliant climax concluded with a drop-shot, a wild celebration and confirmation that the Kyrgios roadshow will rumble into the second week.