Tennis’ Jekyll and Hyde, Nick Kyrgios, has fluctuated from good to bad and back again in his four matches at Wimbledon.
From spitting towards a fan in his opener to being the model of decorum in his second match, he was then back to his most fractious in a feisty encounter against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the duelling going on in the press conference afterwards.
In the fourth round of Wimbledon today, he was perhaps his most muted yet, his only real complaint an issue with his neck and right shoulder which need painkillers and treatment from the physio.
But amid the ever-changing mood, the one constant has been the results, Kyrgios picking up another win against Brandon Nakashima 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2.
It remains a mystery that this was his best run since also reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on his debut in 2014.
And there is no denying that despite the lack of results on grass he is Wimbledon box office as attested to by his call-up to Centre Court. The crowd expected to see the full fireworks – good and bad – but it was a more measured performance with regards to both his histrionics and his actual tennis.
The injury appeared at points to curtail his serving speed and forehand, and yet he still had enough to beat his 20-year-old American opponent. Kyrgios is the man for the big occasion, his best results often coming against the best players on the biggest stage.
The stage was big enough, but an opponent ranked 52 in the world just the sort that Kyrgios sometimes struggles to raise his level for when expected to win.
At times, it was almost as though the crowd were willing him to misbehave, the first big cheer at attempted underarm serve in the fourth game, which resulted in a let.
But otherwise it was an opening set devoid of much drama and seemingly heading for a tiebreak until Kyrgios was somehow broken to love as a terrible forehand went long.
He found himself facing a break point in his opening service game but held and instead got the opening break as the previously accurate Nakashima hit a wayward shot off the frame of his racket.
That break brought out the physio, dispensing painkillers for Kyrgios for whom the single break was enough to level at a set apiece.
The physio came out in games five and nine of the third set, after which Kyrgios appeared to be grimacing less and playing more freely. This time the set did go to a tiebreak, and a question of who blinked first.
It was Nakashima with a double fault to go 3-1 behind and conceding another point on serve to leave Kyrgios to take the tiebreak at the first time of asking, 7-2.
Despite the Australian’s injury issues, it was still a set consisting of 10 aces and 20 winners in all leaving one to wonder what’s possible when fully fit.
As is always the case with Kyrgios, it was not quite plain sailing to get him over the line. He was broken to fall 4-3 back in the fourth set when seemingly dominating leading to a brief bit of ranting and raving but predominantly to himself rather than anyone else.
Then he seemed to give up in his subsequent service game to shift the momentum back towards his rival, who deservedly took the match to a fifth set.
But Kyrgios swung the match back in his favour with four straight games in the deciding set to open up a gap Nakashima could not close.
Kyrgios, who said he would celebrate his wine with a glass of wine, said: “It wasn’t anywhere near my best performance level wise but I’m super happy to get through today. My five-set record’s pretty good. I’ve never lost a five-set match here.”
