Nick's ComingJuly 04, 2014

Day 8 at Wimbledon saw Maria Sharapova's chances of winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon on the same year blown away after losing to Angelique Kerber of Germany at Centre Court, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4. The next match featured Rafael Nadal of Spain playing Nick Kyrgios of Australia. It would be the top news of that day.

Kyrgios, currently ranked 144 on the ATP Tour, went for broke against the second-seeded Nadal. He won in four sets, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3. It was in SW19, the same court that the native of Melbourne played, when Lleyton Hewitt lifted the silver gilt cup. It happened in 2002, which seemed like ages in the tennis world. So it was understandable that the teenager's victory was the topic among tennis fans back home. They are waiting for the next great player from Down Under. Hewitt would retire in a few years, while Bernard Tomic, who reached the quarterfinals at the All England Club in 2011 at the young age of 18, was inconsistent.

Kyrgios, born in Canberra, had a great year in the junior circuit last year, winning the boy's singles title in Melbourne Park and the boy's doubles title in Wimbledon. This year is his first time to compete in the main draw, and during the first week, he upset 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France in the second round in five sets, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5, 10-8. After his third-round victory over JiÅ™í Veselý of Czech Republic, Nadal was next. Some would point out that the Spaniard have been less successful on grass during the last few years, losing in the early rounds in 2011 and 2012. Furthermore, he was beaten on his opening match at a grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, a few days after winning his ninth French Open title. But this is the same fellow who won the men's singles title twice. He's also the current top-ranked player.

After his victory, Kyrgios made no secret of his ultimate goal.

"I want to be the number one player in the world," he said.

"That's my motivation. I've never had anything like this happen in my life."

Three-time champion John McEnroe compared Kyrgios to Boris Becker. (The German was the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon singles title. He was also the youngest champion of a Grand Slam event, a record to be broken by Michael Chang of the United States at Roland Garros four years later.) The comparison seems to hold, as Kyrgios became the first debutant to reach the quarterfinals of the most prestigious tournament since David Nalbandian of Argentina made it to the finals in 2002. He may have lost to Milos Raonic of Canada in four sets, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), but this was just the beginning for him.

Kyrgios has a long way to go before joining the ranks of Rod Laver, but tennis pundits see a bright future ahead of him. Some are still talking about that between-the-legs shot of his.

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