Tsitsipas sets up Kyrgios clash with second-round win

Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas romped into the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday with an accomplished 6-2 6-3 7-5 victory over Jordan Thompson under the roof on Court One.

The win sets up a crowd-pleasing clash with another Australian, temperamental showman Nick Kyrgios.

“We've had some great matches at many levels of competition,” Tsitsipas said of Kyrgios. “I have great respect for the way he fights when he really wants to.”

Kyrgios beat Tsitsipas the last time they met — on grass in the second round at Halle earlier this month.

On Thursday, the 23-year-old Tsitsipas displayed none of the jitters that lost him a set against qualifier Alexander Ritschard in the first round on Tuesday. He kept on top of some punishing baseline rallies, breaking the Australian's serve twice in each of the first two sets and taking the third when Thompson put a forehand long on his own serve at match point.

Thompson, 28, and ranked 76 in the world, has never beaten a top-10 player at a Grand Slam tournament and was upset when the umpire overruled a line call, earning his opponent a break point in the seventh game of the second set. He thumped a ball in frustration when Tsitsipas took the set while the Greek kept his cool and his tennis quality high on the other side of the net.

“I'm very happy I got the crowd involved and that pushed me,” Tsitsipas said.

The closed roof amplified the cheers of the appreciative lunchtime fans. The world number five said he was happy to commit to working hard on grass. “I feel it suits my game perfectly,” he added.

Kyrgios delivered a devastating serving masterclass as he blasted past Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 6-2 6-3 6-1 in 85 minutes on Thursday to charge into the third round almost without breaking sweat.

There were none of the chuntering umpire complaints or run-ins with fans that were a feature of his first-round match — Kyrgios barely had time — as he pounded down 24 aces, with only one double fault overall. He took the first set without dropping a point before many fans had even taken their seats.

Krajinovic, ranked 31st but seen as a dangerous floater on grass after reaching the Queen's Club final earlier this month, could do nothing in the face of the barrage as Kyrgios did not let up from start to finish. In all he dropped just nine points on serve and smoothly mixed up power and finesse to hit 50 winners — a stark contrast to his five-set struggle to overcome British wild card Paul Jubb in the first round.

“I think just getting over the line in that first round was massive,” Kyrgios said. “I've been playing some really good tennis in the last month so I was really surprised the way I played the other day. But I was in my zone today, great body language.

“It's nice to remind everyone that I'm pretty good,” he added, raising a laugh from the fans on Number Two Court.