Meet Nick Kyrgios, the Teen Phenom Who Shocked Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon 2014

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at Internationaled.org

Published: July 1, 2014

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LONDON — He's as modern as today, with a diamond stud in his left earlobe. He's as old-fashioned as serve-and-volley tennis.

Nick Kyrgios—“The Wild Thing,” as he is nicknamed in his native Australia—is the man who Tuesday turned Wimbledon upside down and turned himself into the star-in-waiting.

The 19-year-old Kyrgios—yes, his father came from Greece—upset the game's top-ranked player, Rafael Nadal, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 in a fourth-round match the teenager called “the biggest win of my career.”

Which it was. To this moment.

Down Under, they've been saying the 6'4" Kyrgios, a one-time basketball player, is the one they've been waiting for since Lleyton Hewitt, who won the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002.

Australia's tennis history runs deep, with the Rod Lavers and John Newcombes, champions of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. But they haven’t had a winner for a while.



Now along comes Kyrgios with the perfect blend of talent, self-belief and puckishness to win matches and win over the public—and media.

Before he faced Nadal, before he became the first player outside the top 100 (he was No. 144 but he’ll go up to the 60s, at least) to knock off a No. 1 since 1992, Kyrgios joked with an Aussie newsman.

“Obviously 14 Slams between us,” said Kyrgios, “so it’s going to be a good match.”

All 14, of course, won by Nadal, who, age 28, never had lost to anyone born in the 1990s. Now he has.

Given a spot in the Wimbledon draw as a wild card—perfect for The Wild Thing—Kyrgios improved rapidly over the past year. Just 16 months ago, he was No. 576 in the rankings.

He’s the first wild card to advance as far as the fourth round since Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2009.  John McEnroe, c...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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