Nick Kyrgios beats Cristian Garin to move into Wimbledon semi-finals

Nick Kyrgios is just one match away from a place in the Wimbledon final after steaming past Cristian Garin in straight sets.

The controversial Australian, whose antics this fortnight have thrilled and appalled in equal measure, reached the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time with a commanding 6-4 6-3 7-6 victory.

Kyrgios, now 27, has long been regarded as having all the talent to win major tournaments, but almost none of the application.

But after cruising past Garin – and armed with a 2-0 winning record over most likely final opponent Novak Djokovic – the self-styled bad boy of tennis might finally be about to come good.

"I never thought I'd be in the semi-final of a Grand Slam," he said. "I didn't go about things great early in my career and I thought my ship had sailed. I'm really proud of how went about things out here."

His route to the semis may have been marred by run-ins with umpires, line judges, opponents, the media, the crowd and the fashion police.

"I never thought I'd be at a semi-final of a Grand Slam"@NickKyrgios thought his ship had sailed but he's through to the last four#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/56fHc7Qqve

But Kyrgios was on his best behaviour – relatively speaking – on Wednesday, even striding on to Court One in white trainers rather than his preferred red ones, which breach the strict SW19 dress code.

Garin, the world No 43 from Chile, had never won a match at Wimbledon before but got a lucky break when his first-round opponent Matteo Berrettini, the eighth seed and among the favourites for title, withdrew due to Covid-19.

The draw opened up invitingly for the 26-year-old, who comes from a country which does not even have any grass courts, but his luck ran out against Kyrgios.

Yet in a