Rafael Nadal Outlasts Nick Kyrgios for Grueling 2nd-Round Win at Wimbledon 2019

Rafael Nadal pulled through a four-set battle against Nick Kyrgios on Thursday to advance to the third round of Wimbledon 2019 following a struggle not many might have expected. 

The two stars engaged in one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament thus far. However, it was Nadal who emerged a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) victor and will advance to meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the next round.

Nadal has advanced to the Wimbledon third round for the 10th time in his career, but the emotion he showed at times against Kyrgios suggested this will go down as a special win despite being in the early stages.

Kyrgios showed his usual promise but couldn't stop himself from slipping behind 4-3 in his all-time career head-to-head against Nadal.

There was rarely a dull moment between eminent professional Nadal and the more tempestuous Kyrgios, a player whose actions between points often attract just as much attention as during them.

This fixture had a bit of everything: heated discussions between player and umpire, shots into opponents, underarm serves, arguments with the box and more, most of which was thanks to Kyrgios.

The Australian had won three and lost three against Nadal coming into Thursday's fixture, and it was telling that Kyrgios won their only previous encounter on grass here at Wimbledon in 2014.

Using the slip of the surface to his advantage, the 24-year-old got creative in how he took the game to Nadal, via BBC Sport:

The Centre Court spectacle looked to take the spotlight at times as Kyrgios got into words with the official on several occasions, mostly when a review didn't go as he had hoped. However, the quality of his play was consistently high even as Nadal took a first-set lead.

Kyrgios started to press his advance in the second set and found success moving to the net against Nadal. Per the official Wimbledon website, he went from losing two net points in the first set to succeeding with more than 25 in the remaining sets.

Nadal enjoyed a clean—if not perfect—opening set but suffered two breaks of serve in the second, and tennis writer Ben Rothenberg could fell the competition building:

Kyrgios has attracted criticism for a lack of effort in the past and has even earned some calls for his early retirement. But for all the controversy, his promise and potential to battle alongside the best in the sport was clear for all to see.

His tactics also appeared to ruffle the Spaniard's feathers, and Nadal was as emotionally involved in this match as he has been for a long time.

Kyrgios rasped a pretty intentional-looking forehand into his opponent at one stage. Commentator David Law described Kyrgios' seemingly nonplussed reaction:

Robbing Nadal of his usually calm composure was perhaps Kyrgios' best chance of bringing his foe onto level ground. BBC Sport's Phil McNulty was a fan of the method, controversy and all:

Kyrgios' serve was a menace all afternoon and gave him a sturdy foundation to build from and stay in the match despite Nadal going up two sets to one. In total, the Australian recorded 29 aces to Nadal's 10.

Even the duo's tiebreaks were agonisingly close, but it was during the second (to decide the fourth set and match) that the exhaustion of a match opposite Nadal seemed to set in for Kyrgios.

He ended four points off the world No. 2 in what was probably the most clear-cut portion of the match, which Rothenberg agreed was welcome for all the entertainment it offered:

It's unsurprising for a player like Nadal to attract the bulk of the cheers at Wimbledon, but the audience was fully appreciative of Kyrgios, too, and the spectacle he played a major hand in.

Unseeded Tsonga will have been glad to see his third-round rival endure a tougher-than-expected test ahead of their clash, and Nadal will savour a day's rest before they're scheduled to clash on Saturday.