After just three rounds at Wimbledon, four of the top players on the ATP Tour have already fallen in the men’s singles tournament. No 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was the latest to make an early exit as he fell to the dangerous Nick Kyrgios.
However, the top two seeds in the tournament – Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal – are still very much alive, with Nadal rolling to the fourth round with his most convincing victory yet.
Meanwhile, the American contingent continues to impress as four of them reached Wimbledon’s round of 16.
Read on below as SBOTOP delivers the latest ATP Tour news and updates from the All England Club.
Kyrgios ousts Tsitsipas in third round
Nick Kyrgios is headed to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time since 2016 as he delivered a shock 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) victory against No 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Kyrgios’s victory over Tsitsipas was his first win at a Grand Slam against a Top 10 opponent since beating Milos Raonic the third round of Wimbledon in 2015.
“Honestly it was a hell of an atmosphere, amazing match. I honestly felt like the favourite coming in, I played him a couple weeks ago. But I knew that it was going to be a tough match,” Kyrgios said. “He’s a hell of a player. I had my own tactics out there and he knows how to play me, he’s beaten me once. Obviously I’ve had success. It was a hell of a match.”
Tsitsipas actually took the lead as he won the first set via a tiebreaker. The always animated Kyrgios didn’t seem completely focussed on the match as he spent a lot of time arguing with the linespersons and the umpire.
But despite his antics, Kyrgios got his act together as he came from behind to beat the Greek in over three hours.
Kyrgios will now move on to face American youngster Brandon Nakashima.
Rafa Nadal rolls to first straight-sets win
Rafael Nadal also booked his ticket to the round of 16 in Wimbledon with a routine 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory over Lorenzo Sonego. It was the Spanish superstar’s first straight-sets win in this year’s tournament as he won his first two matches in four sets.
Nadal himself admitted it was the best match he has played thus far.
“It was probably my best match without a doubt here at The Championships against the most difficult player I have faced yet,” Nadal said in his on-court interview. “I was able to raise my level, so I am super happy for that. I wish Lorenzo all the very best for the rest of the season.”
Nadal only served up one ace after firing 18 in his first two matches, but he won 78 per cent of both first- and second-serve points and converted six of eight break points as he produced Wimbledon 2022 highlights on both ends of the court.
Nadal has been in fantastic form this season. Amid his rash of injuries, the 36-year-old has won the first two Grand Slams of the season – the Australian Open and the French Open – for the first time in his storied career.
Nadal is now 33-3 on the season, and the Wimbledon 2022 betting odds will be overwhelmingly in his favour against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. Nadal faced van de Zandschulp en route to winning his 14th French Open crown, and he won in straight sets.
Four Americans in Wimbledon Round of 16
A quarter of the round-of-16 participants in Wimbledon will be comprised of Americans as 20-year-old Brandon Nakashima joined Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Taylor Fritz in the fourth round.
This is the highest number of American men in Wimbledon’s round of 16 since 1999 and the most in the fourth round of a Grand Slam since the 2011 US Open.
“I think we’re sending a message that we have a lot of depth and there’s a lot of strong players that are coming up, constantly improving,” said No. 11 seed Fritz.
“I’ve said this before. I guess we don’t necessarily have all the attention because we don’t have a current Grand Slam champion, a current guy that’s 1, 2, 3 in the world, but we’ve got six or seven guys that are in the Top 40 that are all young. Four guys in the Round of 16, and we could have more. We have a lot of depth and we have a lot of guys that are constantly getting better.”
Fritz, the highest-seeded American in the tournament, will meet Australian qualifier Jason Kubler, who defeated American veteran Jack Sock in five sets in the previous round. Fritz has yet to drop a set in his first three matches.
Tommy Paul, who is also yet to drop a set, will face British No 1 Cameron Norrie, who thrashed American Steve Johnson, 6-4 6-1 6-0. Nakashima, who is coming off a straight-sets win over Daniel Galan, will face Nick Kyrgios. And finally, Tiafoe will face Belgian veteran David Goffin.
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