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Nick Kyrgios advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon on Wednesday following his encounter against Chilean Cristian Garin. The 27-year-old unseeded player fought back after dropping his serve in the first game to defeat the Chilean in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.
Kyrgios secured a spot in the semifinals eight years after making it to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal on the same grasscourts in London and will now square off against Rafael Nadal to take one step closer to the title.
In his on-court interview, Kyrgios praised his opponent, calling him "a hell of a player."
"I am just really proud of the way I have come back out here with my team and be able to put on a performance,' Kyrgios sad. "I felt I was playing on the back foot a lot, he is a hell of a player and I got lucky on a couple of points here or there, it could have easily been him standing here."
With the win over Garin, Nick Kyrgios achieved several significant milestones. In view of that, the following three are presented in no particular order:
#1. Nick Kyrgios becomes the first male Australian player to reach the Wimbledon semifinal in 17 years
Kyrgios became the first Australian man to make it to a Grand Slam semifinal in 17 years by exceeding his previous best Wimbledon run to the quarterfinals from eight years ago. The last Australian man to advance to the quarterfinals at SW19 was Lleyton Hewitt, a former World No. 1 who fell to Roger Federer in the semifinals.
Kyrgios has put up a fantastic performance in the SW19 over the past two weeks, managing to maintain his composure under pressure. If he succeeds in winning the title at SW19, he will break numerous records and become the first Australian man to win at Wimbledon since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.
However, to do that, he will have to get past Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and possibly Novak Djokovic in the finals.
#2. Nick Kyrgios is the first unseeded men’s semifinalist since 2008
The 40th-ranked Australian is the lowest-ranked and first unseeded men's semifinalist since 2008. Both Marat Safin and Rainer Schuttler were unseeded when they reached the last four of the grasscourt Major 14 years ago.
Garin broke Kyrgios' serve in the first game of the match but after being broken twice by Kyrgios in the first set, Cristian Garin was unable to break serve again. Afterwards, the Australian wasted no time and saved eight of his opponent's nine break-point opportunities to win the match in two hours and 11 minutes.
However, if Kyrgios wins the Wimbledon Championships in 2022, he will also break Gaston Gaudio's record of being the last man to win a Major title whilst being unseeded since the 2004 French Open.
#3. Nick Kyrgios now holds 50 Grand-Slam match wins
With 20 match victories at SW19, 17 in his home slam, the Australian Open, eight at the US Open, and five on the surface he dislikes the most - the red dirt of Roland Garros. With his maiden Major semifinal, the 27-year-old also notched 50 Slam match wins to his record.
