Subdued for so long, Nick Kyrgios finally found his spark to extend his rollercoaster ride at Wimbledon and lock up a place in the quarter-finals for just the second time. Kyrgios inspired a feverish ride two nights earlier, but this afternoon proved more of an attritional affair against Brandon Nakashima, lacking the spice of his rivalry with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The curiosity and excitement that swirled around this fourth-round match instead centred over whether Kyrgios would produce the sublime, ludicrous or, preferably, a mixture of both. Already hit with fines totalling £11,560 this fortnight for spitting and swearing, the Australian maverick has proved a divisive figure. Part of the ‘Fantastic Four’ Australians, alongside Alex de Minaur, Jason Kubler and Ajla Tomljanovic, to reach the last 16 for the first time since 1999, the pantomime villain of SW19 lacked a dance partner to mirror Saturday’s theatrics.
