Nick Kyrgios has called for Wimbledon to be the first Grand Slam to make a huge rule change, after Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire injured last night.
The Bulgarian was executing the performance of his life under the Centre Court lights and had found himself deservedly two sets to love up against the world number one.
Jannik Sinner had no answers to the wide variety of questions that Dimitrov was posing, with the veteran aided by an injury his opponent had sustained early in the first set.
Alas, it was his own physical problems which once again proved to be his undoing, with the 34-year-old forced to retire, clutching his right pectoral muscle in agony.
Nick Kyrgios suggests a huge Grand Slam rule change
And now, speaking to talkSPORT, Nick Kyrgios has offered a solution to avoid such disaster.
Before that, he first sought to review the match itself, praising Dimitrov: ‘I definitely think he did get away with it. Grigor Dimitrov actually has the game style to trouble Jannik Sinner. He has great variation and one of the greatest slices in the game that we have seen.
‘But he has retired from the last four Grand Slams and this makes it five in a row. He is approaching 35 years old, so I really hope he can get his body right because, as we see there, he has a lot of high-level tennis left, and I think Jannik Sinner knows that he got away with one yesterday, because he was in some deep trouble.
‘Two sets to love down and it was a competitive third set, so the stars are aligning for maybe another Sinner and Alcaraz final, but I do really feel for Dimitrov because he was playing some amazing tennis.’
The Australian then turned his attention to the injury and how it might have been prevented by Wimbledon itself.
Kyrgios would suggest a bold rule change: ‘I feel like Sinner would have had strong belief in his game style that he was more than capable to win. But Dimitrov was playing such great tennis and executing the game plan perfectly.
‘But Sinner is number one in the world for a reason. This was my solution to these kinds of matches: before the quarter-final, if it’s best of three sets, then that match is over and best of five sets after the quarter-finals. That would have been Jannik Sinner out of the tournament and we would not have seen this injury from Grigor Dimitrov if that was the case. But I think if Sinner had managed to sneak that third set, he probably would have started mounting that comeback.
‘But Grigor Dimitrov, seeing him go down again, you could see how much that was hurting him. He was in tears at the end because he has had a really tough run at these Grand Slams.’
Grand Slam tournaments are made by their best-of-five set format
Whilst Kyrgios has called for this major tennis rule change before, it’d be a decision that would strip away so much of what is good and unique about Grand Slam tournaments.
Particularly on the men’s side, these events mark the peak of physical prowess paired with technical perfection.
It forces players to become the fittest versions of themselves, adding another element of greatness that is needed to achieve this feat.
That is why they are the pinnacle of the sport, and why it is so mind-boggling that the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic hoovered up so many across their illustrious careers.
They are regarded as the greatest three male tennis players ever, with their legends intrinsically tied to success in majors.
Kyrgios’ suggestion might have benefitted Dimitrov on this occasion, but it’s the ability to see out a match from a two-set lead which defines the true champions.
Cruelly, he was not given the opportunity to do so.
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