Wimbledon audience turns its back on Nick Kyrgios

At just hearing the last name of Rafa Nadal’s next opponent, the Wimbledon audience made its opinion heard.

Perhaps, all things considered, Nick Kyrgios could be at his best precisely under conditions of emotional ‘encirclement’ such as those that now seem certain await him in his next match at Wimbledon. The match is one that already promises to be a harbinger of endless anecdotes and twists and turns: on center court on Friday, July 8, the histrionic Australian will face Rafa Nadal, in a remake of the 2014 round of 16 match, when the then 19-year-old Kyrgios defeated the Mallorcan phenomenon amid general esteupor.

The two have subsequently had tense histories in minor tournaments-historically, a winning comeback by the Greek-born tennis player against the Spaniard in Acapulco: in general, relations between the two are far from idyllic, as Nadal himself confirmed in interviews years ago.

The Wimbledon audience, however, already knows who to side with: perhaps only wanting to witness yet another slam final between the Manacor left-hander and Novak Djokovic, engaged in the other semifinal against home idol Cameron Norrie, the spectators at the center covered Kyrgios’ name with ‘boos’ when it was mentioned by Nadal during the post-match interview against Taylor Fritz. A somewhat surprising stance, considering that only until two days ago, the same audience had openly sided with the Australian in the ‘thrash match’ against Stefanos Tsitsipas.