By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday July 2, 2019
The more things change the more Nick Kyrgios stays the same. The Aussie says he’ll never change and insists that his up-and-down roller coaster brand of tennis what gives him joy—so why not go with that?
The Aussie was certainly up and down on Tuesday in his five-set win over compatriot Jordan Thompson, but in the end he succeeded in what he was most looking forward to: earning a shot to face Rafael Nadal in the second round.
Nadal finished off Yuichi Sugita of Japan in short order on No.1 Court, 6-3 6-1 6-3. Let the games begin.
The Nadal-Kyrgios matchup has been ticketed as a potential popcorn battle between two thorny rivals who certainly have no love lost between them. Kyrgios claimed today in press (in a wildly entertaining presser) that there is mutual respect between the players, but to anyone who watched Kyrgios defeat Nadal in three sets in Acapulco, 3-6 7-6(2) 7-6(6), it was clear that the pair are more enemies than friends.
“Uhm, not sure that me and Rafa could go down to the Dog & Fox and have a beer together,” Kyrgios said when asked if he felt that he knows Rafa well, or if he’d like to get to know him better. “I get along with people, some people I don't get along with,” he concluded, adding: “We have a mutual respect, but that's about it I think.”
They may not have shared beers together but they have shared the same court. Kyrgios owns a 3-3 lifetime record against Nadal and sent major shockwaves through the draw here in 2014 when he defeated Nadal 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 in the round of 16 at the age of 19.
Since then Kyrgios has produced that type of brilliance a few more times in his career, but not nearly as often as many had imagined. More typically, he’s been an enigma wrapped in a mystery and a player whose level can drop to the level of his competition, if one of his myriad injuries don’t get in the way first.
But it’s been known for some time that Kyrgios gets up for the biggest matches, and he’s proven to have the talent when it comes to facing the ATP’s holy trinity of Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. He is 6-6 lifetime against them in tour-level matches, and is relishing the chance to get at Nadal again so early in the draw at Wimbledon.
“As soon as the draw came out, I was super happy that I saw him in my section,” he said. “I mean, it's more exciting. When you're a kid, you want to play the best players in the world on I think it's the best court in the world. This is something that I can't take for granted.”
As far as the injuries go, Kyrgios had a bit of a problem with his hamstring today but he shook it off in time to get past his friend in three hours and 26 minutes.
“I'm a physical specimen, so don't worry about it,” he said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Nadal looked rested and energized on Day 2, needing just two hours and one minute to knock out the Japanese qualifier on Court No.1. Nadal saved four of five break points and cracked 11 aces to improve to 49-11 lifetime at SW19.
He’ll need better form against Kyrgios, particularly in the tiebreakers where the Aussie has owned Nadal, winning all five that they’ve contested, including two this year in Acapulco, and another two in their only Wimbledon meeting in 2014.
That meeting, Kyrgios says, will always be cherished, and he’ll try to use it for confidence as the pair prepare for a blockbuster meeting on Day 4.
“I've looked back on that moment,” he said on Tuesday. “That's never going to leave my tennis career. It was one of the most special moments I've ever had. But, I mean … he's not an easy test on the grass, he's very comfortable on it.
“Going into the match, he's one of the greatest tennis players of all time. I go into that match as an unbelievable underdog. I know if I play the right type of tennis, I can have success against him.