London: Cristian Garin produced the greatest match of his career to come back from two sets and 3-0 down and pulled off a dramatic win against Australia’s Alex De Minaur 2-6, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-6(6) at Wimbledon here on Monday.
The 26-year-old world No. 43 broke new ground in the most dramatic way possible where the Chilean engineered a stirring comeback victory against Alex de Minaur to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal.
For two sets and almost two hours, the match was there for De Minaur to take. He was in charge; Garin looked miserable. But just as he looked to be on his way home, the Chilean changed tack and tactics — he tried to be more aggressive on his serve and he tried his hand at the net =- and it paid rich dividends.
After a slow start, the Chilean’s aggressive ball-striking began to penetrate the de Minaur defences from the third set onwards and Garin held his nerve to save two match points before prevailing in a tense deciding-set tie-break to cap a remarkable four-hour, 34-minute victory.
“Honestly, I don’t have any words right now,” said Garin in his on-court interview.
“I just gave everything I have. It was a very tough fight. It was a battle. I think Alex is an incredible player, for me one of the best on grass. I am exhausted. I just gave my best, and I think in the fifth set it was for him or for me. We both fought a lot…Nobody knows what [can] happen in the tie-break. I tried to be aggressive, went to the net, and tried to be aggressive with my serve as well. I think that was the key.”
The win makes Garin just the eighth Chilean male player to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, and the fourth to do so at Wimbledon after Luis Ayala, Ricardo Acuna and Fernando Gonzalez.
The 26-year-old’s next opponent will be another Australian, Nick Kyrgios, or #NextGenATP American Brandon Nakashima.
–IANS