Kyrgios Breaks New Ground, Reaches First Slam SF

Nick Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam semi-final on Wednesday, overcoming Chilean Cristian Garin 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5) in front of a raucous crowd on Court No. 1 at Wimbledon. The 27-year-old is the first Australian man to advance to the last four at a major since Lleyton Hewitt reached that stage at the US Open in 2005.

Kyrgios overpowered Garin with his thunderous ball striking, while he also demonstrated great touch from all areas of the court to earn the biggest win of his season after two hours and 13 minutes.

“An amazing atmosphere out here again. I just never thought that I would be in the semi-finals at a Grand Slam. I thought that ship had sailed,” Kyrgios said in his on-court interview. “I didn’t go about things great earlier in my career and may have missed my window. I am really proud of the way I have come back out here.”

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The No. 40 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, who was playing in his third major quarter-final and first since the 2015 Australian Open, will next meet second-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal or American Taylor Fritz. Kyrgios trails 22-time major champion Nadal 3-6 in their ATP Head2Head series, while he has never played Indian Wells titlist Fritz.

“Each and everyone of my teams plays an important role,” Kyrgios said. “No one knows my tennis better than I do. To be in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, I am pretty happy.”

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Garin made the faster start in his first meeting with Kyrgios, quickly finding his rhythm from the baseline to earn an early break. However, having earned confidence-boosting wins in the past week, Kyrgios never looked worried and swiftly worked his way back in the set by increasing his intensity.

The Australian hit his flat backhand with control, while he played aggressively off his forehand wing and serve, firing 20 winners, including 10 aces in the first and second sets to take control.

Fuelled by momentum, the 27-year-old soaked up pressure in the third set as Garin started to demonstrate great footwork to dictate on the forehand. The Australian, who lost in the quarter-finals on debut at SW19 in 2014, saved all three break points he faced in the set, before he produced moments of magic in the tie-break, rallying from 3/5 to advance. The Australian collapsed to the ground following his standout victory.

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With his win, Kyrgios has become the lowest-ranked men’s semi-finalist and first unseeded men’s semi-finalist at Wimbledon since 2008, when World No. 75 Marat Safin and World No. 94 Rainer Schuettler both reached the last four.

Kyrgios is now 12-2 on grass this season, having advanced to consecutive semi-finals in Stuttgart and Halle last month. The Australian has edged Paul Jubb and Brandon Nakashima in five sets, while also eliminating Filip Krajinovic and upsetting World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The World No. 43 Garin was competing in his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final after rallying from two-sets-to-love down to edge Australian Alex de Minaur in a Wimbledon thriller. The 26-year-old, who has won five tour-level titles, was the eighth Chilean man to reach this stage of a major and the first since Fernando Gonzalez at the 2009 US Open.