Page 15 - aruba-today-20220705

A15
sports Tuesday 5 July 2022
Quieter, calmer Kyrgios in Wimbledon quarters years later

By HOWARD FENDRICH Making the case that he's
AP Tennis Writer a changed man, Kyrgios
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) thought back to a sec-
— Nick Kyrgios stepped into ond-round loss to Nadal at
a nearly full Centre Court to Centre Court in 2019 and
polite applause at precise- recalled: "My agent had
ly 1:30 p.m. on Monday, ex- to come get me out of a
ited about 3 1/2 hours later pub at 4 a.m. ... I've come
to a louder ovation and, a long way, that's for sure."
somehow, the 100-year-old Certainly since Saturday,
stadium survived the expe- at least, when he repeat-
rience. edly argued with the chair
In the warmup period, Kyr- umpire and a Grand Slam
gios flicked a ball between supervisor, and eliciting ac-
his legs and closed with cusations from Tsitsipas of
an underarm serve, hardly being a "bully" and having
standard procedure. Dur- "a very evil side." It's the sort
ing the 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 3-6, of ruckus Kyrgios has raised
6-2 victory at Wimbledon before, earning ejections
over unseeded American and suspensions, and caus-
Brandon Nakashima that ing folks to wonder whether
followed, putting Kyrgios his enormous talent would
in a Grand Slam quarterfi- ever carry him to the clos-
nal for the first time in 7 1/2 ing weekend of a major.
years, he tried those sorts "Obviously," the 20-year-old
of trick shots a few times. Nakashima said, "you never
Afterward, he ditched his really know what's going to
rule-conforming but back- Australia's Nick Kyrgios receives treatment during a medical timeout as he plays Brandon Na- happen with him out there."
ward, brim-bent white cap kashima of the US in a men's singles fourth round match on day eight of the Wimbledon tennis Nakashima evened things
and white shoes in favor of championships in London, Monday, July 4, 2022. by taking the fourth set with
red versions. Associated Press a break, then went up 1-0
"Because," he explained in the fifth. Kyrgios acknowl-
when pressed about the 'We're here, we're compet- "So it's kind of weird when lieve a year later, I'm in the edged handing over the
sartorial choices, "I do what ing at Wimbledon, putting I read or see the com- same position." fourth with an eye to dis-
I want." in a good performance ments about him, knowing For Kyrgios, never one to rupting his foe. Seemed to
Yet, somehow, those seat- mentally. It was rewarding." him the way I do. He's just follow a conventional path, work: He earned five games
ed in the Royal Box never The unseeded Kyrgios, now one of those people if you it's been a much longer in a row, before serving it
turned their backs in pro- 6-0 in five-setters at the All were to hang around him road. out and closing this way
test. And, somehow, the England Club, next faces or spend any sort of quality His two previous Slam quar- from love-30: cross-court
grass-court tournament unseeded Cristian Garin, time with him, you'd fall in terfinals came at age 19 forehand passing winner;
that dates to the 1880s did a 26-year-old from Chile love with him." — at Wimbledon in 2014 hanging on in an 11-stroke
not grind to a halt. who saved a pair of match The women's quarterfinals and the Australian Open in exchange until an admit-
Maybe that's simply be- points and authored the established Monday are 2015. tedly fatigued Nakashima
cause, in addition to fortnight's first comeback 2019 champion Simona Ha- The Aussie spoke about missed a backhand; 134
smacking 35 aces and "rip- from two sets down to de- lep vs. No. 20 Amanda Ani- feeling like a veteran at mph service winner; fore-
ping the ball from the base- feat No. 19 seed Alex de simova, and No. 17 Elena 27, and his self-description hand volley winner.
line" — to use Nakashima's Minaur 2-6, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4, Rybakina vs. unseeded Ajla Monday included "com- When it was over, Kyrgios
words — despite a shoul- 7-6 (10-6) after more than 4 Tomljanovic. posed" and "mature." pounded his chest with his
der that hurt so much he 1/2 hours. The combined nine seeds Not terms generally associ- fist, shouted with a curse
took painkilling pills and The other quarterfinal on who will participate in the ated with Kyrgios, but then word mixed in and turned
received repeated treat- their half of the draw will be women's or men's quarter- again, as he told reporters to his guest box — which
ment from a trainer, Kyrgios 22-time Grand Slam cham- finals is the lowest total at at his news conference: included his girlfriend and
displayed a much quieter, pion Rafael Nadal against Wimbledon since 2000. "None of you really know his support team, whom
much calmer demeanor No. 11 Taylor Fritz. Nadal got "I didn't really think I could me at all. Like, you don't he credits with helping him
than the guy who earned past No. 21 seed Botic van do it," said Tomljanovic, hang out with me at all. be a better person off the
fines of $10,000 for spitting de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 who lost to eventual cham- You only kind of see what court, but not a full-time
in the direction of a heck- (6), while Fritz, a 24-year-old pion Ash Barty in last year's you see on the court. It's al- coach, because he doesn't
ling spectator at the end American, earned his ma- quarterfinals. ways been a bit of a roller have one.
of his first-round match jor quarterfinal debut with "After some tough mo- coaster. So I understand "I need a glass of wine, for
and $4,000 for an audible a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 victory over ments this year, I thought: how it's mixed reviews. ... sure, tonight," Kyrgios told
obscenity during his tem- qualifier Jason Kubler. Am I ever going to get a People just love to just have the crowd during his on-
pestuous win against No. "Doesn't even seem real," chance again? I can't be- an opinion." court interview. "For sure."q
4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in said Fritz, who hasn't
the third round. dropped a set in the tour- LIKE US ON
"I was able to just say, 'Wow, nament.
look how far I've come,' to Kubler, who also is Austra-
myself. I was bouncing the lian, offered his take on Kyr-
ball before I served; I re- gios.
ally just smiled to myself," "Every time I see him, he's
said Kyrgios, owner of a smiling. Every time I'm
tour-high 11 victories on around him, it seems like Facebook.com/arubatoday/
grass this season. "I was like, I'm laughing," Kubler said.