Spectacular Wimbledon day for Aussies
It took Jordan Thompson six years to register his first Wimbledon win - and just another day to snare his second.
The Australian continued his superb All England Club form on Thursday by stunning former world No.4 Kei Nishikori 7-5 6-4 5-7 6-3, joining compatriot James Duckworth in the third round.
On another superb day for the game in Australia, the country's No.2 woman player Ajla Tomljanovic also booked a pace in the last-32 with a 6-4 0-6 6-3 win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.
Duckworth made it to the third round of a grand slam for the first time in his 12-year professional career after a win over former All England Club semi-finalist Sam Querrey 7-5 6-7 (7-4) 6-3 6-2.
Thompson, a good mover and sharp volleyer, had strangely struggled at Wimbledon, losing at the first hurdle every year since 2016.
But after his epic five-set first-round win over 12th seed Casper Ruud, he turned it on once more against the former US Open finalist.
Nishikori, who reached the last eight at Wimbledon on his last two visits, looked strangely out of sorts and rarely landed a blow in the first two-and-a-half sets against the world No.78.
Thompson was so dominant that the Japanese failed to raise a break point until 2-4 down in the third set.
But when Nishikori turned it on, he turned it on in style.
The former US Open finalist broke Thompson to love, reeling off a series of winners and also taking full advantage of a double fault to ultimately get the set back on level pegging.
The second break came and with it the set, an increasingly frustrated Thompson getting a warning for thrashing a ball into the next suburb.
While Nishikori continued to peel off winners, errors continued to flow, with Thompson sealing an early break in the fourth.
It was quickly handed back but Nishikori's listless afternoon continued when he was broken to love in the eighth game - and this time Thompson made no mistake to serve out the contest.
Duckworth was outstanding against the big-serving American Querrey, keeping him on his toes with plenty of well-placed slice and drop shots and breaking his huge delivery five times.
Duckworth will play Lorenzo Sonego in the last-16 while Thompson will fancy his chances against world No.79 Ilya Ivashka.
Meanwhile, Marc Polmans' Wimbledon run came to an end in his fifth match, going down to rising Chilean Cristian Garin.
Relative inexperience on grass failed to prove a big enough obstacle for world No.20 Garin who took out a tight second-round encounter 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-5).
Polman had also won three qualifying matches.
Compatriot Alex Bolt couldn't manage quite as tight a contest, going down to local hope Cameron Norrie in straight sets 6-3 6-1 6-2.
