Let’s hear it for the boy! By global chick.
There is something in the air… could it be that the Aussies are about to turn a corner in their tennis fortunes since the glory days of Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter, Mark Philippousis and even Pat Cash?
Enter the new kid on the block who is backing up his run to the Wimbledon quarter-final with one at his own home Slam. He’s brash, he’s cocky, he is a consummate showman and he knows how to whip up the crowd, sometimes even getting jolly narky with them for cheering so loudly.
Well he’d better get used to it, as Nick Kyrgios is set to light Rocket Rod’s stadium alight when he battles Andy Murray in the quarter-final. Kyrgios came back from two sets down to Federer-Slayer Andreas Seppi. You have to feel for the Italian. He gets the best win of his career playing lights out tennis, but was out-risen-to-the-occasion by Kyrgios.
Nick Kyrgios of Australia plays Andreas Seppi of Italy in their fourth round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2015. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Of course it’s great that he is able to back it up his Wimbledon run, and his antics on court (we’ve had arguments, racket smashes – the dude has it all in his armoury) but at times his kicking up a storm has made former bad-boy turned good Bernard Tomic seem like the granddad of the bunch.
Meanwhile Murray really did face his first test, as Grigor Dimitrov came steaming out of the blocks and for a moment it looked like the wailing and gnashing of “we never should have a tunnel to France” teeth would start a-gnashing, but Murray has borrowed Grigor’s missus’ Houdini mad-skills as he came from behind to take the first set, before Dimitrov levelled the match.
Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria plays Andy Murray of Britian in their fourth round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2015. EPA/LUKAS COCH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Murray took the third but boy was the momentum with Dimitrov. Every year this guy’s improvement has been tangible, and we predict he could have his perfectly manicured paws on a Slam trophy… but not this time. Somehow, and we were watching quite, quite closely, Murray managed to pull off the Houdini malarkey all over again, coming from behind and stealing a fourth set before gamely answering questions about whether he would be a true Scotsman on his wedding day. Given it was Sunday lunchtime back in Blighty, an image like that could put you right off your roast dinner.
Andy Murray of Britain reacts against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in their fourth round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Filip Singer
We know Rafael Nadal is back to his bullish best, we dig that Novak Djokovic is over his bug, but for our fancy, this quarter-final will be gold to watch. We all know that Murray excels when the crowd is against him, as Kyrgios excels in playing to them.
It’s been a rough week, but hang in there – we’re almost at the trees!
Topics: Andy Murray, AO15, Australian Open, global chick, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Melbourne, Nick Kyrgios, Tennis
-@NickKyrgios WINS IN 5, @andy_murray WOMPS @GrigorDimitrov- http://t.co/quY1ZNX7Wf #tennis #AustralianOpen #AusOpen #downunder #Kyrgios
RT @10sBalls_com: -@NickKyrgios WINS IN 5, @andy_murray WOMPS @GrigorDimitrov- http://t.co/quY1ZNX7Wf #tennis #AustralianOpen #AusOpen #dow…