Five years ago, Nick Kyrgios became the lowest-ranked player to beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. This time, Nadal will finally get a chance to avenge that loss in the same tournament, as he goes up against tennis’ bad boy in what is being dubbed as the most intriguing matchup in the second round of the 2019 Wimbledon men’s singles tournament. Will Kyrgios be a thorn in the side of Nadal once again? Or will Nadal advance to the third round at the expense of Kyrgios?
Kyrgios is punched his ticket to the second round of the 2019 Wimbledon men’s singles after beating fellow Australian Jordan Thompson on Tuesday, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (12-10), 0-6, 6-1. As what the score highlights, it was not a rollercoaster of a match, with Kyrgios getting shut out in the fourth set before dominating Thompson in the fifth and final set. Kyrgios has the unenviable task of squaring off with one of the pre-tournament favorites in Nadal this early in Wimbledon, though, he should draw confidence from the fact that he’s topped Nadal a number of times before. In six matches overall, Kyrgios and Nadal are tied at 3-3. Kyrgios won their last meeting in Acapulco (hardcourt), 3-6 7-6(2) 7-6(6). He also took down Nadal in their only Wimbledon meeting to date, downing the Spaniard in the Round of 16 of the 2014 edition of Wimbledon to the tune of a 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 score.
Nadal warmed himself up in Wimbledon by sending Yuichi Sugita packing for home after getting a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win in the first round. Nadal, however, will have himself a tougher matchup in Kyrgios this coming Thursday. Nadal has always struggled against players with a stronger game on grass or those who hit for power, which Kyrgios is definitely one. Nadal is definitely the favorite in this showdown, but the gap between him and Kyrgios may be closer than what most people think. Against Sugita, Nadal lost 11 straight points to open the match, but once he got his rhythm, it became obvious that there was no way the Sugita was going to pull off a shock victory. Nadal placed just 56 percent of his first serves in and scored 78 percent of his first-serve points. He was also very efficient when attacking the net, scoring 10 on 12 net attacks. Nadal acknowledges the serious threat that Kyrgios poses, saying that the Australian is “very dangerous opponent”, per the ATP Tour’s website, but expect Nadal to be ready.
