Wimbledon 2014: Audacious Nick Kyrgios aces Rafael Nadal to ring in the future

Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal

Under lengthening shadows on a mild summer day, the greatest tennis court on the planet witnessed an epochal transition from one generation to the next. An irrepressible teenager played bold and blistering tennis to scythe his way past a bleeding veteran on the biggest stage in tennis. The future has arrived. And it answers to a certain Nicholas Kyrgios, who is all of 19. The Aussie served with precision and struck the lines with venom to waltz past a rattled Rafael Nadal 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

There were 143 steps on the ladder of tennis between the Spaniard and his opponent. No wonder then that the eager teenager decided to take the elevator in his pursuit of the top ranked player. And he came soaring like a breath of fresh air, swiping 37 aces past a bewildered Nadal to turn Wimbledon into a cradle from which a new star was born.

In his main draw debut, Kyrgios showed remarkable poise and calm as he played a steady hand from the moment go. The Aussie was pounding sledgehammer serves and striking a mean forehand to coast through his service games with surprising ease.

The only opportunities of the first set came to Kyrgios, but the two time champion battled hard to keep the set on serve. Nadal was forced to save two break points in the eighth game and another – a set point in the twelfth as he forced the set into a breaker.

Unperturbed by the missed opportunities, Kyrgios took a 4-0 lead in the tie-break as he continued to hustle his seasoned opponent. Nadal recovered to win three in a row, but an ace gave Kyrgios three more set points. The Aussie needed all of them before pounding his 13th ace to snatch the set from Nadal.

Nadal has lost the first set in each of his four matches here, so was expected to come back at Kyrgios as he worked his way back into the match. And he did just that when the only break points of the set, presented themselves late in the twelfth game.

Kyrgios was serving to force another breaker, but botched two backhand volleys to slip to 0-30, showing the first sign of some nerves. The Aussie drew even, but surrendered a set point on the next. And though he saved it with an ace, another followed soon when Kyrgios missed a forehand.

The 144th ranked player sliced a backhand into the net to surrender the lead. The third set progressed much like the second, both men holding serve without any real opportunity greeting the other. The first break point of the third set came in the twelfth, when Kyrgios was at the receiving end of a blistering forehand down the line winner from Nadal.

But an ace, sandwiched between two flying kick serves, was enough to secure Kyrgios a second tiebreak in the match. Having already wasted a break point opportunity, Nadal knew he had to stamp his authority on the set. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he was playing a boy who was sweating conviction.

Some sharp angles and brutal power hitting, especially off his forehand, gave Kyrgios a set point. It was all he needed this time, as Nadal sailed a forehand wide to offer the initiative again to his young opponent. It was Kyrgios who assumed control of the match by breaking early in the fourth set.

A thundering backhand set up a break point in the fourth game and the 19 year old took it with a blistering forehand that forced an error from Nadal. At 3-1, the Spaniard was running out of time, but there was to be no grand fight back.

With the end in sight, a look of desolate pain started to colour Nadal’s weary visage. At 30-15 in the seventh game, Kyrgios missed an easy volley. But he betrayed no sign of nerves, recovering immediately to shut the door with a couple of brutally emphatic serves.

Nadal held to love in the eighth game to leave the 19 year old boy-man needing to hold serve one last time for victory. We have seen Nadal survive tough situations, but Kyrgios proved just as tough as he kept pounding heavy balls to clinch an upset victory in just under three hours.

Kyrgios ensured that with a commanding hold of serve with the match on his racket. The Aussie hammered a forehand to inch within two points of victory and he followed a serve forward to crunch another winner to earn three match points.

An ace out wide ensured there was no further dialogue with Nadal, except a brief interlude at the net whilst they shook hands. Kyrgios was astonishing as he took command of the situation and retained a stranglehold over the contest with his big serve and an equally devastating forehand.

The Aussie made sharp angles, varied pace and direction to keep Nadal off balance. Kyrgios punished anything short with a stabbed forehand that left Nadal filching at air. The wild card player won 81 0f 98 first serve points to underline his strength and keep Nadal at bay.

That Nadal was battling with his entire might is obvious from these numbers – the Spaniard made 44 winners and 18 unforced errors. If you think that a net differential of +26 should win the match, read this - Kyrgios blasted 70 winners against just 31 errors to clean up his opponent. That is +39, just in case you need the math.

Kyrgios became the first teenager to beat the world No.1, since a 19 year old Nadal defeated Roger Federer at the French Open in 2005. The epic victory means Kyrgios will jump nearly 80 places to 66th in the rankings next week.

More importantly, either Kyrgios or Milos Raonic will reach their first ever grand slam semifinal when they meet each other tomorrow. Meanwhile, Kyrgios can relish being the first player ranked outside 100 to oust the top ranked player since Andrei Olhovskiy defeated Jim Courier in the third round of Wimbledon in 1992.