It was an unexpected test test for Kyrgios As the British outsider kept his cool in the face of the Australian’s usual verbal antics, he fell short.
“It was tough, he had nothing to lose and he played exceptional tennis at times,” Kyrgios said. “He’s definitely going to be a good player, I’m happy to have it.
“It’s a lot of fun to play here. I talk a lot on the court but off the court I’m not too bad.”
Kyrgios looked pretty flat on losing the opening set to a player whose career highlight was winning the US NCAA college title in 2019, and in his desperation, he hit a ball high and out of court three.
Kyrgios is a player for whom the term “chantering” was invented because it seems he needs to sustain an ongoing monologue to motivate himself.
He complained to the umpire, speaking an almost polite boo by a fan, “You don’t accept a hat with two logos, but you do accept an insult to an athlete?”.
Kyrgios then complained about a line judge “reporting him” to the umpire. “Nobody has come here today to listen to him,” he said.
Chat appeared to activate him as he began to find his limits in a strong second set, but Jubb refused to lay down, was out in the third and behind a strong tiebreak to take fourth. was going toe. englishIn only his second Wimbledon appearance after losing in the first round three years earlier, Kyrgios was ice-cold to ignore any potential distraction from his ongoing commentary, which included another extended whining over a non-signal net cord in the tiebreak. was.
It is now eight years since Kyrgios stunned world number one Rafa Nadal to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals, but he has never quite matched it, reaching only one other Grand Slam quarter-final in Australia in 2015.
The 27-year-old has slipped to world number 40 but his serve is out of the top drawer when he performed through the third game of the deciding set to love in 43 seconds before breaking Jub.
While serving for the set, however, Kyrgios stood back to admire a drop shot, only to be trapped when Jubb brilliantly drove it down the way to his break back.
Jub then failed to convert a break point and leaked a few shots wide to help Kyrgios secure a win, serving to take the match into a decisive tiebreak.