Kyrgios sets up clash with favourite Murray

AUSTRALIAN Nick Kyrgios turned on the style to book a Wimbledon fourth round clash with new favourite Andy Murray as he outplayed Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez on People’s Sunday.

The unpredictable 15th seed wowed a packed Court One crowd with a dazzling exhibition of his mercurial skills, knocking off two sets in quick time for a 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4 win after the match had been stopped by bad light the previous evening.

A focused Kyrgios took the third set after breaking lefthander Lopez in the eighth game and needed a single break of serve in the fourth set to complete the job.

Kyrgios was given a time violation by umpire Pascal Maria as he served on match point but he shrugged it off and pumped his fist in delight as Lopez sliced a backhand long.

The 21-year-old, a quarterfinalist two years ago when he knocked out Rafael Nadal, will now set his sights on second seed Murray in the stand-out clash of the last 16.

“My attitude was great today. I am very, very happy with the way I played,” Kyrgios said in a court-side interview.

“I definitely have the tools to (beat Murray) but he is probably the favourite now Djokovic is out,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the last 16 on Sunday by downing US marathon man John Isner 6-7 (3/7) 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 19-17.

French 12th seed Tsonga, a semifinalist in 2011 and 2012, saved a match point in the 32nd game of the final set.

The last set alone lasted more than two hours.

Isner, the 18th seed, famously won the longest tennis match ever played when he beat another Frenchman, Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the final set at Wimbledon in the first round in 2010.

The five-setter, stretched over three days, lasted 11 hours and five minutes.

Isner had led Tsonga by two sets to one when play was halted at sunset on Saturday.

The American ended the four-hour, 25-minute tie with 38 aces, 101 winners and 53 unforced errors.

Tsonga, who goes on to face fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet for a place in the quarterfinals, hit 21 aces and 88 winners but made just 20 unforced errors.