There’s truly no stopping World No. 2 Andy Murray come Wimbledon season in his very own home country. On Saturday, the phenomenal 28-year-old righty dispatched Australian John Millman in straight sets to further extend his current win streak to eight matches. All of those wins have come on grass, including his superb title-winning run at Queen’s Club in June.
Speaking of Murray’s terrific form on the lawns, the Brit now owns a dazzling record of 49-9 at the All England Club and an equally superb 85-percent winning percentage for his career in any and all tournaments held on the verdant turf.
To top it all off, Murray has never lost to his upcoming fourth-round opponent this Monday, Nick Kyrgios, in four head-to-head encounters in the ATP. They have even faced off against one another in three of the four Grand Slams except for Wimbledon… until now. While Kyrgios may find some comfort from the fact that this will be their first time to duel on grass, it’s also worth noting that Murray has only dropped one set to the Canberra native in all four of their previous matches combined.
The power and endurance of 15th-seeded Nick Kyrgios has proven to be potent once more after defeating Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in four sets (6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4) and in two-and-a-half hours of play on Saturday. The fiery Aussie has now racked up a whopping 54 aces and 103 winners in his last couple of matches at the All England Club.
Wednesday will be Kyrgios’ third-straight appearance in the fourth round of Wimbledon. The 21-year-old dynamo has now won six of his last eight matches on grass as well, but that still pales in comparison to Andy Murray’s own form on the same surface.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Novak Djokovic’s early exit from the tournament will affect Murray’s mentality for better or for worse. From Kyrgios’ perspective, he can only hope that the standout Brit will enter their showdown on Sunday with overconfidence and not a newfound determination at becoming a two-time Wimbledon champion now that the world’s best male tennis player has been eliminated from contention.
Writer’s Prediction: Murray (-240) with another convincing straight-sets win much to the delight of the English audience.
