Wimbledon 2022: Get ready to strap yourself in for the greatest-ever tennis match

Throw a sickie, work from home, phone the boss to say the dog ate that important report which had been due in tomorrow. For you won’t want to miss what will be “the most-watched tennis match of all time”.

Who says so? Nick Kyrgios, that’s who, and arguing with him is pointless. Just ask the nine spectators he berated mercilessly throughout his quarter-final. These poor folk, he had them standing bolt upright like naughty schoolchildren, heads drooped onto chests in shame, while he screamed at them. And these were the occupants of his box, his team, the nearest and dearest who weren’t quite backing him sufficiently.

He is Nick Curious for sure. And in this weird, wacky but wonderful Wimbledon he just gets Kyrgios-er and Kyrgios-er.

So who will he be playing in this absolute must-see? Rafael Nadal, but only just. The mighty Spanish bull almost had to give up on his quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam but, grimacing through the pain and forced for a while to function on reduced power, he somehow found a way to win.

These two have history. Kyrgios announced himself to the world when he beat Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014, Rafa not being over-enamoured by the outrageous Aussie’s tweeners. At the tournament in 2019 Kyrgios lost but landed a blow on his opponent’s muscle-plated frame with a venomous shot.

He had better not try the same again tomorrow and especially not anywhere near the stomach. “In the abdominals, something is not going well, to be honest,” Nadal told Centre Court after a five-set thriller against America’s Taylor Fritz lasting four hours and 21 minutes. “I hope to be ready to play my next match.”

And as if yesterday didn’t contain enough drama, Kyrgios opened up after his victory over Chile’s Cristian Garin