Kyrgios the King Killer

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

We are getting to the business end now. In every discipline the end of the tournament is nigh. Even the seniors are getting going. Bahrami has been wheeled out to display his magic tricks again. Bahrami could only be French. The style he plays with, the tricks he has mastered. He and Leconte make a deadly partnership. Luckily for us the Frenchman now take the game seriously. Well, some of them anyway.

In the doubles, the quarterfinals have been mostly set now. The Bryans beat fifteenth seeds Cabal/Matkowski 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 to progress to the quarterfinals. They hit 14 aces in the hour and 50 minute contest and never faced a break point. They face ninth seeds Melo/Knowle who beat Guccione/Hewitt in four tight sets. Australian open finalists Butorac/Klaasen lost in four to French Open champs Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin. The fourth seeds are a match away from the semifinals and a probable clash with the Bryans. The twelth-seeded Llodra/Mahut defeated sixth seeded Granollers/Lopez 7-6, 7-5, 7-5. A French pair will face the Bryans. In the other half of the draw, the second seeds were pushed to the limits. They beat fourteenth seeds Murray/Peers 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3. Peya and Soares will play the winner of Sa/Pavic and Sock/Pospisil. If the North American pair lose, there will be a Brazilian in the semifinals. Third seeds Nestor/Zimonjic came through against Cuevas/Marrero in straight sets. The sixteenth seeds nearly won the first but lost it in the end, 10-8 in a breaker. They never threatened again and lost 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. In the other third round that has yet to be played, eleventh seeds Rojer/Tecau play Paes/Stepanek the fifth seeds. The winner of that plays Nestor/Zimonjic.

Chardy lost in the fourth round to Cilic. He has never reached a slam quarterfinal before. This was a career best slam performance for him. He has played very well to get to this stage. He beat Cox, Matosevic and Stakhovsky to make it to the fourth. He may not have faced a seed but you have to beat who's in front of you and he did that. Cilic won the first set in a break 10-8 and then cleaned up, winning it 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. Cilic needed just a little over two hours to finally get by the determined Frenchman. Cilic hit 33 aces to Chardy's 17. Cilic overall hit 59 winners, an astonishing amount.

Cilic now plays Djokovic. I think he will take a set but it will not be enough. Djokovic will win in four, Murray will win in five and they will have an epic semifinal. The players' fitness is the key to that semifinal match. It looks fine for both sides but it could change. Also, Dimitrov beat Mayer. It took him two hours nine minutes, the same time exactly as the Cilic/Chardy match. After a big win ,like Dimitrov's over Dolgopolov, the next match can be hard. But Dimitrov cruised, winning 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. Dimitrov played well but Mayer was never really able to match the young Bulgarian.

Dimitrov plays Murray now. I would love a Federer/Dimitrov final but it is highly unlikely.

But what happened in the rest of the fourth round matches?


CENTER COURT: KYRGIOS d. NADAL
...I know this is a huge upset. But I just had a feeling this was coming. Kyrgios was free swinging and he had the kind of attitude that Soderling and Rosol had when they beat Rafa. The 'I don't care who you are' attitude. Kyrgios beat a struggling Rafa easily. On paper it is one of the greatest upsets ever but, really, was it? Rafa is starting to really struggle off the clay. And sometimes on it. It's funny how he and Roger are struggling at Wimbledon and the French, respectively. Rafa and Roger are starting to look like they are the other's age. For two minutes shy of three hours Nadal was out-hit and out-thought by the 19 year old. 7-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3. Remember that scoreline. It is going to be brought up again and again and and again and again for the next 15 years. And then referenced for the next 50 years after that. 70 winners, 37 aces, from the racket of Krygios. Nadal could only respond with 44 of his own, just 11 aces in there, and that was a major advantage to the Aussie. In this match Nadal was taken to the woodshed. Kyrgios just took it to Rafa. I think he would have beaten every and anyone on that day. He was that good.

From the BBC:
"Ranked 144, Kyrgios is the first man outside the top 100 to beat a world number one at a Grand Slam since 1992." "...since Jim Courier's loss to world number 193 Andrei Olhovskiy at Wimbledon 22 years ago."

Kyrgios plays Raonic next. That is going to be an excellent, if boring, match to watch. The rallies and breaks will be few. The momentum will not matter so much and the two biggest servers left will do battle to see which can out-serve the other. I love Kyrgios' service movement, how loose it is and how much power comes off it, but I also appreciate how good Raonic's is, too.
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COURT CENTER: DJOKOVIC D. TSONGA
...This is called sending a message. Djokovic did not even need two hours to dismiss Tsonga. Djokovic hit 44 winners and 11 errors. Tsonga managed just 19 aces. Though Djokovic broke just twice, he was never in danger. Tsonga did not turn up. There is not much more to say. Djokovic is playing Cilic as I write. He is in trouble. So is Federer. Looks like Wawrinka and Cilic have both turned up.
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CENTER COURT: MURRAY D. ANDERSON
...The even-tempered, big hitting South African has been one of the surprises of the tournament, and I mean a positive surprise like finding ten bucks, not one like buying a CD that you later find out is scratched. Anderson kept his temper during the Fognini meltdown. He kept his focus. He is a very underrated player. Not only does he have a great physical strength, but he also has a great mental strength. He just keeps going. He doesn't lose it, he doesn't over think anything, he just keeps chugging away. Murray knew he would be facing a big serving opponent with an uncanny ability to just stay calm. Murray came through 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 in over two and a half hours. Murray hit 49 winners with Anderson hitting 41. Surprisingly, they combined for only 20 aces. Murray managed to find 17 break point chances. Anderson very nearly nicked that last set, losing the breaker 8-6. Murray managed to play his usual counter-punching role with even more aplomb. He took all Anderson had to throw at him and gave it back. The South African could not handle it and Murray came through. Murray just lost to Dimitrov. He double faulted on break point down 2-3 and down two sets to love. He didn't play well, but Dimitrov was on another planet. On another nebula almost.
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COURT ONE: FEDERER D. ROBREDO
...Robredo has been there. He has been here. He has been over there. He has hit that shot and this shot. He has come back from two sets down. He has rallied and he has serve-volleyed. But he has never been to the Wimbledon fourth round. For a player who has featured in the Fedal era, not winning a slam is understandable. He has won Masters titles and he has been to more French Open quarterfinals than Murray and Djokovic. He has done it all. He has even beaten Federer, Djokovic and Murray. This match, however, was only ever going to go one way. 94 minutes. That was all the Fedexpress needed to come through 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. Federer. Federer barely missed. He cruised through the first set and a half or so. He hit winners with ease and moved Robredo around. He made the Spaniard look ineffective. But the wily veteran responded and responded well. He tried new things, gave Federer different balls to look at and generally made him think. This worked to an extent. The next sets were a little closer but Federer was still too good. Possibly the most impressive stat: one break point. One. He plays Wawrinka next. He will win in four, at the most. If he plays like he has been doing, then it will be in straight sets.
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COURT TWO: WAWRINKA D. LOPEZ
...It is a career best for the Swiss number one. He has now made the quarters at every slam. Both he and Lopez had quietly moved through the draw without too many people noticing. He is now the fourth highest seed here. It won't do him much good, though. Lopez and Wawrinka played out a very straightforward two hour [one hour, fifty-eight minutes] match with Wawrinka taking a 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 decision. He won the breakers 7-5 and 9-7. I don't think Wawrinka can win but he might take a set. Wawrinka was oh so impressive, hitting 55 winners, 31 aces, and just 8 errors. Just 8 errors. Wawrinka never faced a break point. The Swiss star faced a tricky opponent and simply swatted him aside like he was an insect. It was an impressive display from the fifth seed. It tells the rest of the draw he could win two slams in a year. Wawrinka plays Federer next. I cannot see a way in which he can win that. Yes he beat Fed in the principality, but that was on slow clay. Federer on grass, quick grass, serving well...
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COURT FOUR: RAONIC D. NISHIKORI
...Nishikori finally exits Wimbledon, but he, too, has a career best performance here. He is full of surprises. Another surprise was that this was on Court Four. I know that it isn't Murray or Nadal or what have you, but these are two top ten players who have been up there or thereabouts for some time. They have risen. This would have been great on Court One or Two. It is a storied rivalry. Two-love in the head to head with some breakers. All won by Nishikori. Nishikori can bother Raonic on clay and also on hard. He can nullify the big serve and then overpower him in the rallies. He can also hold serve easily because Raonic does not return particularly well. On grass, however, Raonic has the advantage. The gulf betwixt Nishikori's serve and Raonic's cannon is highlighted by the grass. The power difference is also clearly emphasised. Raonic came through 4-6, 6-1,7-6, 6-3. Once the Canadian won that third set breaker 7-4, he never looked back. Nishikori managed to break just once from 7 chances. Raonic took three from seven. The big gap came in winners [66-26] overall, not to mention aces [35-11]. Raonic on grass doesn't have to exchange in lengthy rallies and that gives him an advantage over Nishikori. On clay and hard he has to rally. And he can't beat Nishikori on those terms. Raonic plays Kyrgios next. I except more than 80 aces in that match. I expect more than 150 winners in total. I also expect there to be no rallies longer than 5 shots. I also expect this to go five sets.
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Any other notes?

* - Kyrgios leads the ace count with 113. 113 in four matches. It is an average of 28 a match. So, effectively, he is serving about a sets worth of aces in a match. Isner has 110 and Raonic has 108. Cilic and Tsonga round out the top five so far with 98 and 91, respectively. Raonic and Raonic will feature tiebreakers.

* - I have a feeling that Federer/Wawrinka could go very quickly. Federer has been supreme recently, albeit with a fairly straightforward draw. He might just sweep Wawrinka.

* - My upset special is Dimitrov/Murray. It probably won't happen but Murray is facing something very different today. If Murray loses today he will drop down the rankings. He will fall to around 9 in the world if he loses. Cilic is headed to back inside the top twenty.

* - The Wimbledon scheduling has been spot on. They have made tough decisions. They have really outdone themselves this year. Putting Djokovic/Cilic on Court One is the right call. Court One is a fantastic arena anyway.

* - No American is in the fourth round for the first time ever. New records keep being made by Americans. It's just a pity some of them aren't so good. What will the Americans do when the Williams retire?

* - Russia is also in trouble. Russian men's tennis is in trouble and the women's is not great either. Not anymore. Not really.


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