With Nick Kyrgios, Benoit Paire and Fabio Fognini, three charismatic players bid farewell to the 2018 Wimbledon tournament on Saturday. Only the Italian had a chance of a place in the round of 16.
As always, the inclined observer can only guess how Nick Kyrgios’ trains of thought ran after the Australian finally entered Court 1 in Wimbledon just after 7 pm local time. Kyrgios did not seem to have a great desire, but why?
Would the co-favorite have preferred the transfer to another court and thus an earlier start? The matches of Simona Halep and Alexander Zverev had finally developed into epics, each with an unfavorable outcome for the favourites. Did the Canberra man’s displeasure lie with opponent Kei Nishikori, against whom he had never won before? Or the prospects for the next tournament, which would have given Kyrgios not Zverev, but probably Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer?
Nick Kyrgios’ early lamento gave a hint that the organisers of the third Grand Slam tournament of the year had done everything right. Or simply kissed by the luck of the game. If the Australian-Japanese affair had taken a different, more balanced course, there would have been two options to choose from: To finish the match on Centre Court under floodlights. Or on Monday, when the concentration should only be on the round of 16.
Benoit Paire and Fabio Fognini, two brothers in the spirit of Kyrgios, will also be absent. However, the Italian’s complaints in his defeat against Jiri Vesely remained within manageable bounds, Fognini’s demands on the pitch are extremely low. The Italian impressively proved this during his appearances at “The Boodles” last week.
Benoit Paire also started there. Paire has shown in Halle/Westphalia that the Frenchman is on you with the grass: Roger Federer was only one point short, fortunately. In Stoke Park, however, the 29-year-old from Avignon spent more time rolling on the pitch than the entire French national football team in the quarter-finals against Uruguay. Cumulated.
As a result, Paire did his work in Wimbledon with an impressive bandage around his left leg. Successful until the meeting with Juan Martin del Potro, also because Paire was spared an interesting treat at the start against Andy Murray due to the Scotsman’s late refusal.
Against the Argentinean, Paire offered a solid game, combining the virtues of Fognini and Kyrgios for this one Saturday afternoon: like the Italian, Paire had little chances, and Kyrgios’s omission did not go uncommented. Especially not in the tie-break of set two.
The balance sheet can therefore be summed up as follows: Glad you three gentlemen from the entertainment department found the time. But once again, the more serious aspirants play the title against each other.