WIMBLEDON, England—Nick Kyrgios stepped into a nearly full Centre Court to polite applause at precisely 1:30 p.m. on Monday, exited about 3.5 hours later to a louder ovation and, somehow, the 100-year-old stadium survived the experience.
In the warmup period, Kyrgios flicked a ball between his legs and closed with an underarm serve, hardly standard procedure. During the 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 (2), 3–6, 6–2 victory at Wimbledon over unseeded American Brandon Nakashima that followed, putting Kyrgios in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time in 7.5 years, he tried those sorts of trick shots a few times. Afterward, he ditched his rule-conforming but backward, brim-bent white cap and white shoes in favor of red versions.
