Rafael Nadal defeated Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) in a stormy and bad-tempered Wimbledon second round encounter on Centre Court on Thursday.
It was Nadal’s 50th win at the tournament as he continues his push for a third Wimbledon title and 19th Major.
Kyrgios twice served underarm on game point, was handed a code violation for unsportsmanlike behaviour and waged a bitter war of words with umpire Damien Dumusois. Nadal will face France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the last 16.
Earlier, eight-time champion Roger Federer eased into the third round beating British wild card Jay Clarke 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2 to equal American legend Jimmy Connors’ record of 17 appearances in the last 32.
On the women’s side, there will be a new name adorning the trophy as defending champion Angelique Kerber went out to lucky loser Lauren Davis 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Federer and Nadal’s half of the draw lost two of the potentially more awkward customers in big serving duo John Isner and Marin Cilic.
Ninth-seeded Isner fell to unseeded Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in just over three hours of play, while Cilic, the 13th seed and finalist in 2017, lost in straight sets to Portugal’s Joao Sousa, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Scare for Serena
There was a scare for seven-time champion Serena Williams, who dropped the first set against 18-year-old Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan before prevailing 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Ashleigh Barty’s bid to become the first woman since Serena in 2015 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year stayed on track with a 6-1, 6-3 second round victory over Belgium’s Alison van Uytvanck.
Moving ahead
On Wednesday, four-time champion Novak Djokovic reached the third round for the 11th successive year while 15-year-old Cori Gauff aimed to write another episode in her history-making All England Club debut.
Top seed Djokovic hit 13 aces and 37 winners as he eased past Denis Kudla of the United States, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Coco Gauff reached the third round by beating 2017 semifinalist Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3 under the new Court One roof.
The American schoolgirl is the youngest player in the last 32 since Jennifer Capriati, also 15, went all the way to the semifinals 28 years ago.