Wimbledon – Nakashima v Kyrgios, Garín beats De Minaur and Rybakina through – live!

Tomljanovic broke Cornet back, only for Cornet to seize the advantage a second time. She leads 5-3.

Does anyone know what was gained by this?

A nifty inside-out backhand return from Kyrgios cramps Nakashima’s forehand – he wants to go down the line but he’s right on the line, wiping it just wide … then Kyrgios plays a terrific point on advantage, a topspin forehand taking his opponent to the corner, opening the court for the backhand winner! He leads 4-1 in the fifth, and celebrates in suitable style.

Well done Brandon Nakashima! He finds two first serves and Kyrgios can’t get them back, so to deuce we lurch.

Kyrgios’ serve is up there with the most potent weapons in the history of our sport, and he consolidates just as quickly as you expect him to before earning two points for a double break – which, in the context of this match, feel like match points.

Updated at 11.36 EDT

“ I do mostly agree with Sam Rajasingham’s points of view concerning an athlete’s mental health,” says Dean Kinsella, “and also the pressure they are expected to perform under, but one must also take into account the affect of abusive language and behaviour on the recipient, the officials and, of course, the opponent.”

I agree, and also want to be clear that no one was saying Kyrgios isn’t responsible for his behaviour. But I think we need to retain some perspective and am not sure we’re comparing like with like.

Kubler has, at last, found something, breaking Fritz back to trail 2-3. He’s doing his best to get pumped too, quickly holding to the approcal of his box.

Kyrgios returns to the match, wins two quick points with good returns giving Nakashima more than he can handle, then it’s back to sounding off at the umpire, a 2-1 final-set lead in his skyrocket.

He might’ve allowed the final game of the fourth set to leave him, but Kyrgios is putting himself about in the fifth, chasing down a forehand to glide into the corner for deuce. Then he forces Nakashima to play an extra ball, eliciting the error … so Nakashima saves break point with an ace. He’s not out of the woods yet, though, and needs to wait a moment because his opponent has words for the umpire.

Updated at 11.28 EDT

Fritz is playing beautifully today, and a backhand, the final fibre of which catches the outermost fibre of the sideline, gives him 3-1 in the third. He’s almost home, and they’ve only been out 88 minutes.

You’ve got to laugh. In seconds, Kyrgios secures his hold, and on we go.

Nakashima holds at the start of set five, then finds himself up 0-30. In co-comms, Tim Henman reckons Kyrgios will need aces because he’s not prepared to grind, and shonuff two arrive, then he races in to glide a lovely volley into the corner. It came, though, off a decent bachand from Nakashima, who finds another for deuce. This is intense, people.

We’re away on Court 2, Cornet leading Tomljanovic 2-1 on serve.

France’s Alize Cornet returns the ball to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic. Photograph: Sébastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 11.24 EDT

Kyrgios tanks his service game, Nakashima takes set four, and at 6-4 4-6 (2)6-7 6-3, he’ll serve first in the decider! I can’t wait to see how it unfolds!

At 40-30, Nakashima nets a backhand and could be forgiven for experiencing the willies. But being 20, he might not even know what they are, and rushes through deuce for 5-3. He’s a game away from a decider.

Fritz now leads Kubler by two sets to love, having taken the second 6-1. He’s looking good.

Whaaaat?! Nakashima gets to 15-40, then Kyrgios slices a backhand wide! No one saw that coming amid all the aces, but credit to the kid: he hung in there, saw his chance, and seized it. He leads 4-3 in set four, his opponent sits chuntering to himself at change of ends, and are we headed for another decider? Let’s hope so…

Talking of KP, I was lucky enough to do a book with him a few years ago and there was one phrase he kept using that I think is a really good lesson for life: pick attacking options.

They’re knocking up on No2 and we learn that Cornet is playing her 62nd straight major, equalling Ai Sugiyama’s record.

I also think we expect sportsfolk to refrain from the idiocy that is an unavoidable part of every human’s life. I wrote a bit about that on Kevin Pietersen, here.

“We have to talk about Kyrgios,” begins Sam Rajasingham. “I think one of the things that’s very striking about the BBC commentary on this match and the last is the poor understanding of how mental health affects high-performance athletes. People seem to think Kyrgios is bad through some innate flaw. He’s been open about his struggles with mental health and clearly a lot of his chuntering comes from struggling with pressure. It feels like most of his complaints are either against the umpires, the rules… but really they seem more an expression of his anxiety. Listening to it makes me really wonder how painful it is to have that voice internalised.

And, so what if he swears? It seems really weird that people want tennis to be popular but don’t realise one of the barriers to that popularity is its perception as an upper class sport that only the rich can afford. Clearly some players are swearing in another language but they don’t get penalised at Wimbledon because it’s not in English. Why bother with these rules at all if they don’t apply across all languages?

No, Kyrgios isn’t perfect, and we all wish he had the ability to completely control his emotions and mind, but isn’t it unfair that we don’t let people be the complicated people they are, especially when the reason why they’re in the public eye is because they’re good at hitting a ball accurately?”

I agree wholeheartedly with all of this. We don’t know what’s going on inside anyone else’s head – goodness me, it’s enough trying to decode your own – so should always try and look favourably on those struggling, or those who appear to be struggling, rather than bitch about minor infractions that harm no one. Thing is, there’s an idea that sportsfolk owe us something – not just their full expression of their talent, but that they’re indebted to those of us who don’t have it, to compensate us for that. It’s a nonsense.

Kyrgios venting his frustrations at nobody in particular. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Updated at 11.19 EDT

Next on No2 Court: Alize Corner v Ajla Tomljanovic.

Phew! Elsewhere, Fritz has broken Kubler at the start of set two – he’s all over him really, and as I type that he breaks again for 6-3 3-0. Back on Centre, Nakashima is hanging in there, serving at 1-2 in the fourth, Kyrgios leading by two sets to one.

Garin is struggling to vocalise how he’s feeling, which makes sense because how on earth can you? I know I’m sort of firing myself here, but the words to describe coming back from two sets down to reach your first major quarter, the first man from your country so to do in 13 years? Yeah, good luck with that. He tells us Wimbledon is his favourite tournament, he tried to be aggressive in the breaker, and he’s worked all his life for this. Goodness me, what a feeling that must be. He says De Minaur is one of the best players on grass, and when it’s posited that clay is his favourite surface, he says now grass is. He’s a lovely young man, and I’m absolutely buzzing for him.

Tangentially, is Garín Chilee-an or Chilay-an? I’m going the former, but partly because saying Chilay-an nauses people.

What a comeback and what a match! The stones, wheels and lungs on the pair of these! De Minaur looked the better player for much of the match and much of the decider, but when it came to the p-r-e-s-s-u-r-e, Garin found better lengths and better weight of shot. He looks whacked, elated and shocked, rightly so, and will meet Kyrgios or Nakashima next.

Chile’s Cristian Garin celebrates beating Australia’s Alex De Minaur. Photograph: Sébastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 11.05 EDT

Eeesh, De Minaur shovels an ugly forehand long, and suddenly the end looks nigh. Garin will now serve at 8-5, an unlikely victory almost his…

Four points in a row give Garin 7-5, and he’s jut three points away from a quarter against Kyrgios or Nakashima.

By the way, Fritz has won the first set against Kubler 6-3; Kubler has taken a medical timeout.

Meantime, De Minaur has not only broken Garin back but taken the advantage for himself as we near the four-hour thirty mark. Except he then goes long, twice, and we’re locked at 5-5.

The way Kyrgios attacked that breaker, with such focused viciousness, was affirming to see. There was just nothing Nakashima could do – the power and accuracy were beyond anything he’s able to offer, and judging by the kipper on him, he knows it too.

Kyrgios returns with a backhand Photograph: James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 10.40 EDT

Oh man, Kyrgios is so special when he’s special, lasering a backhand return down the line for 6-2 before astonishing a forehand for the set and a tie-break dematerialisation! He leads 4-6 6-4 7-6(2), and do we think shoulder might be OK, mates?

Updated at 10.35 EDT

Kyrgios get the first mini-break which, given the way he serves and is serving, might be enough. Nakashima closes to 2-3, but when it’s Kyrgios’ go, he spanks down a brutal ace … talking of which, Garin unfurls a murderous forehand during a brutal rally, which he parlays into the first mini-break of that breaker. He leads 3-2.

A love-hold for Kyrgios means we’re getting a third-set breaker, while on Court 2, Garin has just about fought through a nervv service-game for a super-duper-breaker-decider. Ooh yeah!

By the way, it’s all going on at Edgbaston.

A spectator watches the England v India cricket match on their phone during the match between Nakashima and Kyrgios. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Updated at 10.40 EDT

Superb stones from De Minaur, who marches through deuce for his hold. However, Garin bussed his final challenge early in the game, so when he didn’t like the service winner that clinched it, he had no way of remonstrating other than with glares and grumbles.

…so saves the first break point with an ace and the second with a serve out wide followed by a forehand to the corner. Meantime, Kyrgios holds for 5-5 in the third, but he’s not exactly charging about if he thinks Nakashima has played a decent shot.

De Minaur hasn’t adjusted after the break, and he’s quickly 5-5 and 15-40 down…

Kyrgios looks in trouble here, clutching his arm as Nakashima holds for 5-4. In comms, they’ve been wondering if a different kind of personality would be hiding their discomfort, citing feats of endurance performed by Hewitt and Nadal, but that depends as much on the nature of the injury than it does on mental fortitude.

Kyrgios seems to be having difficulty with his shoulder. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated at 10.22 EDT

Oh man, diving behind the baseline to try and return the aforementioned, De Minaur grazed his hand and there’s claret, so we’ve a little break while it’s sorted.

Alex de Minaur dives to reach the ball. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters De Minaur gets medical treatment on his finger. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Updated at 10.29 EDT

But De Minaur nets a forehand, then Garin finds a huge serve, cleaning up with a forehand of similar proportions, so to deuce we go.