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.Those lucky enough to be on Centre Court on Tuesday witnessed history in the making as world number one Rafael Nadal fell to the world number 144 in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
NADAL SUFFERS STUNNING DEFEAT
It was amazing enough that Nick Kyrgios's victory was the first time since 1992 that a man ranked outside the top 100 had beaten a world number one but the fact he is just 19 years old made this one of tennis's most astonishing results.
Add to this the fact Kyrgios showed off with some incredible tennis and produced arguably the most arrogant and brilliant shot ever seen in the game and you've got a genuinely classic match.
WATCH KYRGIOS HIT THE 'SHOT OF THE YEAR' ON THE BBC WEBSITE
But who is the young man responsible for this incredible feat
Nick Kyrgios of Malaysian and Greek descent was born in Canberra in 1995 and turned pro in 2013. Prior to Wimbledon he had won only three career matches on the ATP Tour and at the start of last year found himself down in 838th.
So it's perhaps no surprise that his own mother doesn't rate him. Here's what he said about Norlalia Kyrgios's pre match comments about Nadal being a heavy favourite
I saw an interview with her saying he was too good so that made me a bit angry and that helped I think I was in a bit of a zone out there.
Kyrgios seemed rather surprised by his own success when he whipped out his phone and went on Twitter straight after beating Nadal....
Erm ok then...........
Nicholas Kyrgios ( NickKyrgios) July 1 2014
Having seen off Richard Gasquet and now most incredibly of all Nadal his stunning performances at Wimbledon have marked quite a rise for the former 'chubby ball boy' as he was memorably described by the Daily Mail recently.
Another profile in the Sydney Morning Herald described him as the 'rock star of Australian tennis'. And he doesn't mind praise at all.
This is a man who uses the hashtag NKRising on Twitter and also retweeted the following tweet from his own account
. NickKyrgios Obviously 14 grand slams between us so it's going to be a good match (On his R16 meeting w/ Rafa). pic.twitter.com/fwKjBnJ58p Tennis Memes ( ATPWTAMemes) June 29 2014
He is a big server no player had matched his tally of 76 aces after his first three games but Kyrgios also has magic in his hands as demonstrated by his quite unbelievable shot between the legs from the back of the court to take a point from the great Nadal.
Perhaps it was a skill learned from his days playing basketball which he actually preferred as a kid. His mother also recently said that Nick honed his ability to fire the ball out of the reach of opponents as he was too chubby to chase around the court and wanted to cut down the distance he had to run himself.
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.He started playing tennis because my eldest son Christos who is eight years older than him was a tennis player but not to Nick's level Norlaila told the Daily Mail. He was Christos' ball boy he would just follow him around and pick up his balls and of course Christos had no mercy for his brother. Nick was a quite a chubby fellow at that age and he was quite proud of himself walking around collecting the balls.
But I felt sorry for him always following us around so I asked him one day if he wanted to try. I gave him a try and my god he just whacked it He really whacked it And right over the net The hand eye coordination was just wow So I kept feeding him balls. Just wow This tubby little thing and that arm strength my goodness It just started from there but he didn't get a proper tennis lesson until he was about seven.
It's not just his mum who's a fan Andy Murray tipped him for big things back in June
Another challenger win for nickkyrgios this time on grass.. also won challengers on hard and clay Next big aussie star
Andy Murray ( andy_murray) June 14 2014
Like many Australian sports stars the Wimbledon wild card is not short of self confidence and a cheeky sense of humour. When previewing his match with Nadal he told the press Obviously 14 Grand Slams between us so it's going to be a good match.
Maybe next time they meet it'll be 15...
TennisSports RecreationRafael NadalNick Kyrgios
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