Wimbledon News 2022: Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal advance at All England Club

The former shrugged off a shoulder injury to outclass American Brandon Nakashima 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-2 and set up his first significant quarter-final in seven years. He shares the top eight with Rafael Nadal, who registered a 6-4 6-2 7-6 (8-6) victory over Botic van de Zandschulp. Kyrgios will face Chile's Cristian Garin, who prevented an all-Australian encounter by resurfacing from two sets down and saving two match points to overcome 19th seed Alex de Minaur. 

The world thrives on clay but has reached its first significant quarter-final with a 2-6 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 7-6 (10-6) victory. Although Kyrgios kept a check on his explosive temper, he couldn't stop his opponent from dominating his service games. The former's injury issues made it harder for him to set up his first Wimbledon quarter-final since 2014 when he beat the world's number one Rafael Nadal. The Australian reached the Australian Open last eight in 2015 but failed to do so in the following years. 

In his previous match with Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, both players were fined for their conduct. Despite his injury, he broke in the third game, helped by a double fault and shank by Nakashima, before seeking help from the physio at the changeover. After receiving treatment, Kyrgios composed himself to win the decider despite conceding the previous set. 

Nadal continues the calendar Grand Slam bid.

Nadal is competing in his first Wimbledon tournament since 2019 and the first one since having radiofrequency ablation treatment on his chronic foot injury to alleviate long-term nerve pain. He is now targetting his third Wimbledon title, and his recent duel against van de Zandschulp witnessed the Spaniard being in control for the opening two sets and saving the only break point he faced before taking the lead. However, he slipped when serving for the match and was broken at 5-3. The set then culminated into a tie-break thanks to the Dutchman. 

Nadal then missed three match points from 6-3 up in the breaker before he clinched his fourth one due to a missed overhead from world number 25 Van de Zandschulp. After the match, Nadal remarked that he knew he kept going positively until the end when his performance dipped. He was elated to have landed in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam after three years. He will encounter Taylor Fritz in the following round after the American clinched his first major quarter-final with a 6-3 6-1 6-4 win over Jason Kubler of Australia.