Andy Murray vs Nick Kyrgios – the first big, blockbuster men's singles tennis match of Wimbledon 2016 is here. With the No.2 seed now the clear favourite after Novak Djokovic's premature exit, the pressure will be piled on further on the home hope, and the man who will want to take advantage of that extra pressure on his opponent is Kyrgios as the two tennis stars meet in the fourth round at Centre Court on Monday.
Murray has made light work of his three opponents so far, winning all of his matches in straight sets, and barely looking troubled in any of them. His form is of no doubt and the fact that the Scot has beaten Kyrgios in four previous official meetings puts him on the should-go-through-in-three-to-four-sets column.
"Nick is an extremely good server, and he likes the big courts, the big matches," Murray said about facing the No. 15 seed Kyrgios. "Has performed well in those situations before.
"Doesn't play with as much sort of slice, and doesn't come forward as much, but he is dangerous from the back of the court and he is improving all of the time."
Murray is good friends with Kyrgios, 21, and defended him when asked about the negative headlines that the Australian always seems to carry with him, but when it comes to matchday on Monday, expect the world number two to unleash his own ruthless streak. Murray, after all, is the best men's tennis player in the world not named Novak Djokovic, and as long as he brings his premier game onto the court, he should be fine.
Kyrgios, who beat No.22 seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4 in the third round, to book this match with Murray, will rely on his power game, again, while also banking on that ability, as Murray alluded to earlier, to raise his performance on the big stage.
They don't make them too much bigger than Murray at Centre Court of Wimbledon at the moment, so expect a fired-up Kyrgios to come out and try to catch his opponent off guard with aggressive play early.
"Obviously, he's one of the best tennis players you can play right now," Kyrgios was quoted as saying by Wimbledon's official website. "I've got a game plan. At the same time, we both know what to expect. It's going to be a really fun match.
"I lost to him at the US Open in four sets. But, I definitely feel like he's beatable. He's only human. He's a great athlete. Moves extremely well, he knows the game so well. He's practically a brick wall from the back. He's a great returner, can mix it up.
"The biggest difference is I play a little bit more aggressive to Andy. I don't move anywhere near as well."
Where to Watch Live
Andy Murray vs Nick Kyrgios is the third match on Centre Court on Monday. The first match -- Roger Federer vs Steve Johnson -- is set to begin at 1 p.m. local time (5.30 p.m. IST, 8 a.m. ET) start. All the live streaming and TV information.
India: TV: Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1. Live Streaming: Starsports.com and Hotstar.
UK: TV: BBC Two. Live Streaming: BBC iPlayer.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
USA: TV: ESPN3. Live streaming: Watch ESPN.
Canada: TV: CTV and TSN. Live Streaming: TSN TV.
Asia: TV: Fox Sports Asia. Live Streaming: Fox Sports Play Asia.
China: TV: Beijing TV, LeTV Sports, Jiangsu TV.
Europe: TV: EuroSport. Live Streaming: EuroSport Player.
France and Middle East: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
