LONDON: Nick Kyrgios booked a clash with Andy Murray for a place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals after downing Feliciano Lopez in the third round on Sunday.
The Australian 15th seed won 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 on Court One in a match that was tied at one set all when bad light stopped play on Saturday.
Kyrgios will face second seed and 2013 champion Murray in the fourth round on Monday.
The British star is the top seed left in the draw after world number one Novak Djokovic was knocked out by Sam Querrey in a shock result Saturday.
But Kyrgios fancies his chances nonetheless.
“I definitely have the tools to do it, but saying that, he’s probably one of the best players in the world and he’s probably the favourite at the moment since Novak is out,” the Australian said.
“I’m going to go out there and not do anything different.
“We’re great mates. He’s a great guy, a great player and I’m really looking forward to it.
“I’m pretty much playing the ultimate competitor on grass.
“Andy Murray on Centre Court at Wimbledon: it can’t get much better than that.”
Kyrgios finally beat Spanish 22nd seed Lopez on his fourth match point, despite getting a time violation from the umpire as he served for the match.
Lopez, 34, three times a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, also had some interaction with the umpire, bizarrely adjusting his tie at one point.
– Murray sticks up for Kyrgios –
Kyrgios went into Sunday’s resumption at the centre of a new Wimbledon row when he was heard labelling one of his own support team as “retarded”.
The incident, picked up by courtside microphones, occurred on Saturday during the second set of the Lopez match.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper claimed that Kyrgios also accused his entourage of failing to get behind him.
Controversy seems to follow the fiery Canberra native wherever he goes — something Murray puts down to the press provoking the 21-year-old.
“Every time he’s in here you’re trying to wind him up the whole time. It’s not really fair on him,” Murray told reporters in the Wimbledon interview room.
“When he makes a mistake, yeah, it’s fine. I don’t have a problem reporting on him making a mistake or doing something wrong.
“But it happens a lot where it doesn’t seem like he’s really done much in comparison to what other players are doing, and he’s the one that gets asked all the questions about it.”
Murray said Kyrgios would learn to handle the media better over time.
“I’m sure over time he’ll start to do better and understand better how to deal with all of the attention and the questions and stuff. But sometimes he hasn’t done loads wrong, and he’s got a rough ride,” the Scot said.
“But he has made some mistakes in the past, as well.”
