Wimbledon: Tsitsipas sets blockbuster Kyrgios clash, Nadal battles through R3
Jul 01, 2022
London [UK], July 1 : Stefanos Tsitsipas has set a blockbuster clash with Nick Kyrgios on Thursday when he cruised past Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round at Wimbledon for just the second time.
The Greek looked sharp throughout his two-hour and four-minute clash against Thompson on Court 1, opening his shoulders to dictate from the baseline.
The fourth seed, who is making his fifth appearance at Wimbledon, struck 29 winners and broke the Australian six times to improve to 2-0 in their ATP head-to-head.
Tsitsipas clinched his first grass-court title in Mallorca last week and has quickly found his feet in London following the short journey from Spain. His victory over Thompson means he now holds an 8-2 record on the surface this season, having won just eight tour-level matches on grass before 2022.
The World No. 5 has captured a Tour-leading 42 wins this season and will next play Australian Kyrgios after the six-time tour-level titlist downed Filip Krajinovic in straight sets. Kyrgios holds a 3-1 lead over Tsitsipas, having won their most recent match on grass in Halle earlier this month.
A pumped-up Nick Kyrgios produced a serving masterclass to dispatch Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 and reach the Wimbledon third round for the sixth time.
Later, Rafael Nadal sailed into the third round without facing any significant danger.
The two-time champion defeated Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 after three hours and two minutes in the second round of The Championships. The second seed will next play 27th seed Lorenzo Sonego, who reached the fourth round at SW19 last year.
"Every day is a challenge, that's the truth. All the opponents are difficult. We are playing against the best players of the world and especially even in these conditions, it will be more [difficult]. I didn't play much on grass for the past three years," Nadal said in his on-court interview.
"Every day is an opportunity to improve and today I'm through, so that gives me the chance to keep going. [I am] very happy for that," the 22-time Grand Slam champion added.
