An angelic Nick Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final for seven years when he recovered from a slow start to beat American Brandon Nakashima in five sets on Wimbledon's Centre Court.
Nick Kyrgios Photo: PHOTOSPORT
With Kyrgios's bad-tempered Court One victory over fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas still the talk of the town, the Australian was on his best behaviour in front of the Royal Box as he ground out a 4-6 6-4 7-6(2) 3-6 6-2 win.
Unseeded Chilean Cristian Garin awaits in the last eight after edging out Kyrgios's compatriot Alex De Minaur, offering Kyrgios a golden opportunity to surpass his quarter-final run at Wimbledon on his debut in 2014 when he stunned Rafa Nadal.
After the mayhem and toxic atmosphere of Saturday, when Kyrgios was accused by Tsitsipas of being a bully, he let his tennis do the talking against the 20-year-old Nakashima, barely uttering a word in anger throughout a contest that contained few of the fireworks usually associated with the Australian.
While his tennis did not reach the heights he managed against Tsitsipas and at times he struggled physically, Kyrgios still struck 61 winners, 31 of which were aces.
Garin showed amazing tenacity to come from two sets and 3-0 down and save two match points as he beat de Minaur in a five-set slug fest To reach his first grand slam quarter-final
Garin eventually triumphed 2-6 5-7 7-6 (3) 6-4 7-6(6) after four hours 34 minutes of superb tennis that brought a standing ovation from Wimbledon's packed Number Two Court.
Until today, Wimbledon's 11th seed Taylor Fritz was not even the best tennis player in his own family.
But with some hefty swipes of a garish coral-coloured racket on Court One, the American finally earned his family stripes by reaching the quarter-finals of the grasscourt grand slam.
His 6-3 6-1 6-4 win over qualifier Jason Kubler put him into the last eight here, and saw him match the grand slam feat of his mother who, as Kathy May, reached three slam quarter-finals in the late 1970s.
Having beaten Kubler, the player known as "the right-handed Nadal", Fritz will next face the real deal, with Spain's second-seeded Rafa.
Nadal took another step forward in his bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam by booking his spot in the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a commanding 6-4 6-2 7-6(6) win against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
The All England Club, where the Spaniard has won two of his 22 majors, has been the least rewarding place for Nadal but he arrived this year having won the Australian and French Open titles back-to-back for the first time in his career.
A third Wimbledon title and first since 2010 on the manicured lawns and a U.S. Open triumph would see the Mallorcan claim the calendar slam -- a feat last achieved in 1969 by Australian great Rod Laver.
In the women's draw.... former champion Simona Halep marked her return to Centre Court with a scintillating performance to thrash fourth-seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa 6-1 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals.
Playing on the main showcourt at the grasscourt Grand Slam for the first time since sweeping aside Serena Williams in the 2019 final, the 16th-seeded Romanian put on another show for the crowd, smashing 17 winners and breaking Badosa's serve five times to close out the victory in an hour.
Halep will meet American Amanda Anisimova for a place in the semi-finals.
Simona Halep Photo: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic
Anisimova ended Harmony Tan's fairytale Wimbledon debut with a 6-2 6-3 victory.
World number 115 Tan, who stunned 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in a late-night epic on day two, backed up that win with two more impressive performances, before being brushed aside by Anisimova, the last remaining American woman in the singles.
Ajla Tomljanovic became the first Australian woman in more than two decades to reach back-to-back Wimbledon quarter-finals when she wore down Alize Cornet in a 4-6 6-4 6-3 victory.
The 44th-ranked Tomljanovic will next face Kazakh 17th seed Elena Rybakina, who beat unseeded Petra Martic of Croatia 7-5 6-3.
-Reuters
