Monday’s encounter between Rafael Nadal and Botic Van De Zandschulp progressed without a hitch—that is, until it was time to end their Wimbledon fourth-round contest.
Nadal was serving for the victory at 5-3 in the third set when he was broken for the second time in the match. He then missed three consecutive match points in the ensuing tiebreaker despite being up 6-3.
The Dutchman’s resistance came to an end at that point, though, as Nadal won 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (6) on Centre Court after converting his fourth match chance. The Spaniard is competing in his first grass-court competition since 2019, when he was defeated by Roger Federer at Wimbledon. After winning the Australian Open and French Open to raise his career total to a record 22 major titles, he is vying for his third Wimbledon victory and has a shot at completing a calendar-year Grand Slam.
After not competing at Wimbledon for three years, Nadal commented, “It’s unbelievable for me to be in the quarterfinals here.” “So happy, so happy.”
The only American left in the draw, 11th-seeded Taylor Fritz, will be Nadal’s next opponent.
Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios has advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time since his debut in 2014 after bringing his All England Club record in five-set matches to 6-0. To defeat American Brandon Nakashima, 20, Kyrgios overcame a sore shoulder and a fourth-set slump and won 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-2.
Throughout the match, Kyrgios had treatment for his right shoulder numerous times, and in the fourth set, he was broken twice in a row.
However, he jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth and used a forehand volley to score on his first match chance. Kyrgios finished the tournament with 35 aces despite having a sore shoulder.
In contrast to his previous encounter against Stefanos Tsitsipas, where he frequently quarreled loudly with the chair umpire and was accused by his rival of lacking respect, the Australian displayed little in the way of antics or disagreements. In the opening round, Kyrgios also defeated Paul Jubb in five sets.
After that first-round match, Kyrgios was fined $10,000 for spitting in the face of a heckler, and $4,000 for using an audible profanity during his tumultuous victory against Tsitsipas in the third round.
“I was able to simply think to myself, “Wow, look how far I’ve come. ‘I really just smiled to myself,’ said Kyrgios, who has a tour-high 11 victories on grass this year. ‘I was bouncing the ball before I served. “We’re here, competing at Wimbledon, putting in a good mental performance, I was like. It was satisfying.
Cristian Garin of Chile, who defeated Alex de Minaur after falling behind by two sets, will be his next opponent. Garin is another an unseeded player.
Rafael Nadal moved to the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Monday to maintain his chances of winning a calendar-year Grand Slam while competing in his first grass-court competition since 2019. Alberto Pezzali for AP Photos
Fritz broke this streak by defeating qualifier Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 to go to the final eight of a Grand Slam for the first time after three of his countrymen fell in the fourth round.
Being an American, Fritz said in an on-court interview, “I’m glad I could get the win on the Fourth of July.
After winning a warm-up match in Eastbourne, it was Fritz’s eighth straight triumph on grass.
Garin defeated de Minaur to advance to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal after coming back from two sets down and saving two match points in the fifth.
In the first-to-tenth-set tiebreaker, the unseeded Chilean fell behind 5-3 before winning six straight games to go up 9-5. After 4 hours and 34 minutes, he successfully used his second match point to win 2-6, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4, and 7-6 (6).
Since Fernando Gonzalez in 2009, he is the first Chilean guy to have advanced to a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
In three prior encounters, the 19th-seeded De Minaur had never lost a set to Garin, and he appeared poised to continue that trend when he led 3-1 in the third-set tiebreaker. At 5-4 in the fifth, the Australian then had two match chances.