Wimbledon reveals the new faces of championship tennis
Outside of the ATPs big fourRafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Roger Federerits been difficult for other tennis players to access one of the…
Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria celebrates defeating defending champion Andy Murray of Britain in the men’s singles quarterfinal match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday July 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Toby Melville, Pool)
Outside of the ATPs big fourRafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Roger Federerits been difficult for other tennis players to access one of the most exclusive cliques in all of sports over the past several years.
For the past decade, Grand Slam finals not involving at least one of the aforementioned champions have been cast as chance occurrences, so rare as to be disregarded. And yet, for the first time in a long time, the status quo finally seems to be changing as the once expected is increasingly being put to question, especially at Wimbledon.
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World number three and local favorite, Andy Murray, was ousted Wednesday by Grigor Dimitrov (6-1, 7-6(4), 6-2) in just three sets during his Wimbledon quarterfinal match after having won the tournament last year.
Meanwhile, in even bigger news, number one-ranked Rafael Nadal went down the day before in the fourth round of play at the sports premier tournament to a confident world tour novice from Canberra, Australia. Nick Kyrgios, the unheralded 19-year-old from Down Under, made his first-ever appearance on the fabled Wimbledon grass as he took to the All England Clubs Centre Court on Tuesday to face one of the players he had grown up admiring.
Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios of Australia celebrates a point against Milos Raonic of Canada during their men’s singles quarterfinal match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday, July 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The most surprising aspect of the upset, however, was the fact that it didnt feel like an upset at all. From the onset, the towering Aussiehes listed at 64 and 171 poundsappeared to be the better man on the court. From the very first point of match play, Kyrgios set the early tone as he kicked off the set with a resonating ace that caught the heavily-favored Nadal by surprise.
Over the course of the next four sets, the 144-ranked rookie never wavered in his demeanor and ultimately showed the legendary Spaniard an early exit.
And yet, despite qualifying for the tournament as a total unknown in the eyes of average tennis aficionados, Kyrgios actually entered Wimbledon with one of the most impressive junior records in recent memory.
Following early success since the age of 15, Kyrgios gained the world number one junior ranking in 2013 by the age of 18 . Just one week after reaching this threshold, he worked his way to the final of the Junior Australian Open where he would go on to defeat fellow countryman, Thanasi Kokkinakis, to take his first junior grand slam victory.
Born to a Greek father and Malaysian mother in Australias capital city, the young Kyrgios was touted early on as a promising basketball player because of his athleticism and height. Eventually, however, he made the decision to focus his athletic endeavors purely on tennis as he gained a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport.
In the post-game conference following his defeat of Nadal, Kyrgios expressed his utter disbelief after having taken down one of the most accomplished competitors in the history of the sport.
And yet, as former tennis great John McEnroe said when commenting on the match to the BBC, ”He absolutely believed that he was going to win this match, and he’s acting, to me, like he can win this tournament. The last guy I saw like this… is Boris Becker. That young teenager, no fear whatsoever, no matter what comes my way I’m going to be better than them.”
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic of Canada puts his arms aloft as he celebrates defeating Nick Kyrgios of Australia in their men’s singles quarterfinal match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday, July 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Following his impressive victory, however, Kyrgios fell to another rising star in Canadas 23-year old Milos Raonic this afternoon in a tightly-contested match, which ended in a fourth-set tiebreaker. The follow-up to the dethroning was definitely disappointing, but its abundantly clear that the tides are definitely shifting and a Raonic v. Kyrgios matchup might soon become the mainstay on championship Sunday.
Milos Raonic is the first Canadian in more than a century to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon. That was the easy part now he gets to face seven-time champion Roger Federer on Thursday.
Raonic defeated wild-card entry Kyrgios 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) Wednesday, finishing with his 39th ace on the fourth match point.
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Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria celebrates after defeating defending champion Andy Murray of Britain in their men’s singles quarterfinal match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday July 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
World No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov reached his first Grand Slam semi-final on Wednesday as he ended defending champion Andy Murrays Wimbledon reign. Dimitrov will now become the first Bulgarian man to break into the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.
Im excited and happy I went through in straight sets, Dimitrov told BBC television. Its never easy to play Andy, especially in front of his home crowd. I was pretty fortunate today.
As soon as we started warming up, I sensed his game wasnt at his highest level and I was pretty confident and playing good tennis. The first set helped me get into a good rhythm. The second set tie-break was a key moment for me. Coming into the third set, I knew I had a lot of things under control.”
