TENNIS Nick Kyrgios fought back from a set down to edge past last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist Milos Raonic with 5-7 7-5 7-6(7-3) 6-3. Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka advance easily to the fourth round with three-set wins. Diego Sampaolo
Kyrgios has rached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row. Last year he beat Rafa Nadal in the fourth round to reach his first ever Grand Slam quarter final where he lost to Raonic. The young Aussie player hit 34 aces and dropped just 15 of his first service points.
Kyrgios made three costly double faults in one game as he was serving at 5-4 and dropped the first set with 5-7.
Kyrgios faced a break point in the second set but he saved it before breaking serve at 5-5 with a forehand winner before serving for the set in the next game. The third set came down to the tie-break where Kyrgios went down 0-2 before reeling off six points in a row and hitting a second serve ace on his set point to take the 2-1 lead on sets. Raonicwas was struggling with a shoulder injury in the fourth set where Kyrgios got the break before serving out in the next game
“I feel as if physically I have massive improvements. I wasn’t struggling at all. If it was to go into a fifth, I would have still confident. I didn’t want to lose again. I lost to him twice at Grand Slams. I thought it was agood day. I played ome really good tennis”, said Kyrgios
Kyrgios set up a fourth round match against Richard Gasquet who beat last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Gasquet broke serve early in the first set and opened up a 2-0 lead. In the ninth game Gasquet saved three break points as Dimitrov was leading 4-2
In the second set Dimitrov earned two break points in the sixth game but he failed to convert them. In the next service game Gasquet broke serve to 15. Gasquet was in control of the match and broke again in the fifth game of the third set. Gasquet did not convert three match points in the 10th game but he sealed the win at the fourth opportunity.
Last year Kyrgios beat Gasquet 10-8 in the fifth set in the second round at Wimbledon.
“It was an incredible match last year. It was very tough because I had nine match points and I couldn’t do it. It was tough to lose. He played incredibly”, said Gasquet.
Novak Djokovic cruised to a 6-3 6-3 6-3 win over Bernard Tomic setting up a fourth round match against Kevin Anderson.
Djokovic broke serve to 15 and cruised to 6-3 in the first set in 29 minutes. Nole broke serve in the seventh game of the second set Tomic went up 0-40 at the start of the third set but Djokovic fended off the break point. Djokovic brought up three break point chances in the fourth game before breaking in the sixth game
Djokovic has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the seventh consecutive year.
“It has been great so far. I was hoping I could play better and better. As the tournament progresses and this is what happening. As we are moving on I feel more confident”, said Djokovic
Stan Wawrinka also needed three sets to beat Fernando Verdasco with 6-4 6-3 6-4. Wawrinka will take on David Goffin in the next round. The Belgian beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 6-4 6-2
Verdasco dropped his serve in the tenth game with a double fault. The Spanish player held his serve in the third game of the second set but Wawrinka broke serve in the 8th game and served out for the set. Verdasco earned two break points but Wawrinka saved them. Wawrinka broke serve in the ninth game with a lob.
“I have the results so far, three sets each match. In Grand Slams you have to win in three sets.
Marin Cilic and John Isner will resume their battle on Saturday after their four-hour and 16-minute match was suspended on Friday at 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 10-10
The first two sets were very tight and dominated by the serve. The first set came down to the tie-break with no breaks and was won by Cilic with two mini-breaks for 7-4. The second set was very similar and was decided by the tie-break after both players did not earn a single break point. Isner won the second set with 8-6. Cilic was the first to get the break point in the ninth game of the third set. The fourth set did not feature any break points and was decided by the tie-break.
There were four mini-breaks in the first five points of the breaker. Isner took a 6-4 lead after a volley error from Cilic and forced the match to the fifth set. Cilic broke in the second game and raced out to 3-0 but went down in the next game. Isner drew level to 3-3. In the 10th game Cilic went up 30-40 but Isner saved the match pop point and drew level to 5-5. Both players held their service games before the match was suspended at 10-10 due to darkness.
On the next day of play, Cilic won the opening to games to take the 5th set 12-10.
