Melbourne: He upset Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, and followed up Sunday by beating the guy who ousted Roger Federer at the Australian Open. Next up for Nick Kyrgios is a quarter-final against Andy Murray at Melbourne Park.
It’s about to get very noisy on Rod Laver Arena.
The 19-year-old Kyrgios came back from two sets down and saved a match point to beat Andreas Seppi 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 8-6, becoming the first Australian man to reach the last eight in the national championship since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005, and the first male teenager since Federer in 2001 to reach two Grand Slam quarter-finals.
He was on a secondary court for his night match, and his first words to a crowd that had chanted and screamed like football fans: “Thanks mate. Feels so good.”
Murray, a two-time Grand Slam champion and three-time Australian Open finalist, overcame racket-smashing Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5 to secure a spot in the last eight at his 16th consecutive major.
In a 3-hour, 32-minute minute match filled with stunning shots from both players, Murray rallied from 2-5 down in the fourth set to close out against the 23-year-old Bulgarian who has been dubbed “Baby Fed” by those who compare his style with Federer’s.
Seppi beat Federer in the third round - the 17-time Grand Slam winner’s earliest exit at the Australian Open in 14 years - and was right on course to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in 40 majors when he had match point in the fourth set.
That’s when Kyrgios said his own experience kicked in: he’d come back from two sets down at Wimbledon - he saved nine match points in the second round against Richard Gasquet - where he also beat then-No. 1 Nadal in the fourth round en route to the quarterfinals.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “When I saw I had finally won the match it was incredible - it was the best feeling I ever had. It’s just massive confidence.”
Momentum in Nadal’s 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win over towering Kevin Anderson swung on two games at the end of the first set. Nadal fended off five break points to hold, and then broke the 2.03-meter-tall (6-foot-8) South African’s serve to trigger his winning roll. He will next face No. 7 Tomas Berdych, who had a 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over Bernard Tomic.
Nadal, who won the Australian Open in 2009 and lost the finals in 2012 and last year, is coming off an extended injury lay-off and says he’s building as he goes - thankful he got through a tough five-setter in the second round against US qualifier Tim Smyczek.
“The chance to be in the quarterfinals after a tough period of time for me is a fantastic result,” Nadal said. “I was playing better than the days before. The way that I improved my level is not the most important thing” obviously the victory is.”
