Wimbledon Center Court (CNN)Eight years after the last quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon, Nick Kyrgios "Composition" and "maturity" after reaching the same stage in a five-set battle with Brandon Nakashima.
Only when the forehand volley was cleared at the first match point in the fifth set, Kyrgios showed real signs of emotion-looking at the crowd and roaring with joy.
The 27-year-old player seemed to suffer from shoulder problems throughout the match and also struggled to win as he needed physiotherapy treatment in 3-2 of the third set.
"I definitely need a glass of wine tonight," he admitted in a post-match court interview.
Chilean Cristian Garin is the first man to return from the two sets after defeating Australia's Alex de Minaur in this year's tournament.
Kyrgios has reached the Grand Slam quarterfinals for the first time in seven years and remains undefeated in all five sets of games at Wimbledon.
"Today I knew I was trapped in an absolute battle, and I was almost smiling and laughing at myself on the other side," he told reporters. "I couldn't enjoy it before. I enjoyed most of my competitiveness (today)."
Nakajima of the United States, who played in the first fourth round of the Grand Slam, , Claimed the first set at the first break point of the match, but Kyrgios took a break at the beginning of the second, despite holding his shoulders many times.
Serve proved to be Kyrgios' best weapon. When he saw the set and leveled the match, there was one ace that recorded 137 mph.
Neither player had a chance to break in the third set, but Kyrgios had the upper hand in the tiebreaker, hitting the cross-court forehand out of Nakajima's reach and playing the match. I proceeded.
However, the 20-year-old player hasn't finished yet and took the lead of 4-3 in 4th place. What followed was a strange flow of play in which Kyrgios seemed to put the rest of the set on a tank with a slow serve and a dull ground shot.
"Complete rope-a-dope tactics," he explained later. "I just abandoned that service game. I knew he was on the rhythm, he was starting to ride on me, and I just wanted to abandon him a bit."
It meant that the match would go to the deciding factor just for Kyrgios to produce some of his best tennis while Nakajima declined.
Saab's double break laid the groundwork for victory, and Kyrgios ended the match with 35 ace-to make the tournament tally 103-and 79 winners
he is now His second Wimbledon quarterfinal and the first contest since 2014. At the time, he was famous for his 19-year-old debut, defeating Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
His performance on Monday may not have carried the same infectious pulsating energy as his victory over Nadaru, but nevertheless it was a brave victory.
"It was far from the best performance at the level, but I'm very happy to get it done," Kyrgios said. "I fought really hard today."
The controversy tended to follow Kyrgios throughout his tennis career, and this year's Wimbledon was no exception.
However, Kyrgios admits that he is a different player and person than the one he confronted Nadaru eight years ago, as evidenced by the gentle appearance he showed on Monday. I am.
On Monday, he could easily look back on what he described as his "roller coaster" journey.
"Look, there was a time when I had to be kicked out of the pub at 4am to play Nadaru in the second round," Kyrgios said.
"The agent had to come out to the pub at 4am before playing on the center court in Wimbledon.
" I've come a long way I'm done, that's for sure. I think it's my daily habits and the people around me. Well, I'm sitting in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, feeling good, calm, mature, and having it around me. Is very blessed and feels comfortable on his skin. "
He is the third-ranked player in the world rankings against Garin, but has the experience of the biggest stage of the sport. Due to the small number, Kirios was able to step into the last four of the Grand Slams for the first time.
It's a player who's used to riding the highs and lows of his professional tennis career.
