Nick Kyrgios and Ajla Tomljanovic have advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, whilst Alex de Minaur and Jason Kubler were defeated on a day which dished up a mixed bag of results for the Aussies at The All England Club.
Nick Kyrgios was forced to come from a set down as he battled a nagging shoulder injury in his 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-2 win over 20-year-old American Brandon Nakashima, advancing to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time since 2014.
Kyrgios belted down 35 aces along with 79 winners to ultimately overpower the rising American star.
”I have played a lot of tennis in the past month and a half. I am proud of the way I steadied the ship after he came out firing in the fourth set,” Kyrgios said in his post-match press conference.
The win improves Kyrgios' five-set record at Wimbledon to 6/0.
“My five-set record is pretty good. That is what I was thinking about. I have played a lot of five-set matches here. That is what I was thinking about. I have been here before and I have done it again.
“Brandon hasn’t played on this court. All those experiences that I have had on this court got me over the line,” Kyrgios said.
In the quarterfinals, Kyrgios will take on Chilean world No. 43 Cristian Garin, who came from two sets to love down to defeat Aussie Alex de Minaur 2-6, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-6(6), ending hopes of an all-Australian quarterfinal at The All England Club.
De Minaur got off to a quick start against Garin, taking the first two sets with ease. But the Aussie hit a roadblock as Garin began to hit more freely, stealing the third set in a tiebreaker from 3-5 down.
With all the momentum, the Chilean took the fourth set relatively quickly to force a decider.
After both players had their serves broken, de Minaur was presented with two match points late in the set but was unable to convert, and the match would be decided by a super tiebreaker. De Minaur once again held a 5-3 lead but was overrun by Garin, who moved into his maiden major quarterfinal.
29-year-old qualifier Jason Kubler’s tremendous run from qualifying to the round of 16 came to an end as he fell to No. 11 seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 1-6, 4-6.
On the women’s side, Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic came from a set down to defeat Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach back-to-back quarterfinals at The All England Club.
"Today was crazy," Tomljanovic said in her post-match press conference.
“[Cornet's] level was really high from the get-go. I think the second point of the first game was so long that I kind of thought to myself, 'Oh, my God, I don't know if I'm going to physically be able to keep up with her.' But I found a way.
"It felt like a coin toss a little bit. I mean, she fights till the end. She wasn't giving me much. That's why in the end I was a little bit in disbelief that I actually came through."
It’s an impressive win for Tomljanovic after Cornet ended World No. 1 Iga Sweater’s 37-match win-streak in the third round.
Tomljanovic will now meet No. 17 seed Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals. It will be the pair's second meeting after Rybakina won their first in straight sets on the clay of Madrid last year.
“She's got a big game," Tomljanovic said about Rybakina. "I know that if she's on, it's going to be tough. But you just got to weather the storm. If I can weather the storm but try to put my game as the priority and be aggressive first, and move her, I think that's going to be key."
In doubles action, Australia’s ‘M&M’s’ Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell won their third consecutive five-set match over No. 3 seeds Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals.
They will come up against a fellow Aussie - John Peers, and his partner - Slovak Filip Polasek, who defeated No. 9 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 7-6(5), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
John Peers wasn’t able to have the same luck in Mixed Doubles action, as he and Gabriela Dabrowski went down in the quarterfinals.
However, also in Mixed Doubles action, Aussie pair Matthew Ebden and Sam Stosur continued their run, taking down the No. 1 seeds to advance to the quarterfinals.
In junior girls action, Aussie No. 6 seed Taylah Preston bowed out in the second round, going down to Chinese Taipei’s Yu-Yun Li 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 3-6.
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