Not since Wimbledon 2002 has an Australia male claimed victory at one of Tennis' four Grand Slams, but hold your horses tennis fans, this year might be the year that all changes.
Lleyton Hewitt, the man who loves Tennis so much he has retired and staged a dramatic comeback roughly three times this year already, won the second Grand Slam of his career at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club 16 years ago, following on from his U.S. Open victory in 2001.
Our Davis Cup captain made it to the final of two other Grand Slam tournaments, the 2004 U.S. Open and the 2005 Australian Open, but our Aussie hero was bested by Roger Federer and Marat Safin respectively.
Apart from Hewitt, just three Aussie men have made it to the quarter-final stage of one of tennis' four most important tournaments since Lleyton's win in England back in '02.
MORE: Wimbledon 2018: Roger Federer and the five players who can win it all
Mark Philippoussis, aka Scud, faced the Swiss Maestro in the final of Wimbledon in 2003 where, as you probably guessed, Federer smacked him around the court.
Bernard Tomic, as an 18-year-old, made the quarter-final of the same tournament in 2011. Remember what high hopes we once had for the current world No. 146?
The fourth and final Aussie has made it to two separate Grand Slam quarters and is quietly stringing together a number of grass court wins that has pundits believing he is a serious chance to take out this year's Wimbledon title.
Nick Kyrgios, the world No. 21, made it to the final eight of Wimbledon in 2014 and the Australian Open in 2015.
The divisive Aussie hit a career rankings high of world No.13 in October, 2014, and despite an elbow injury that forced him out of this year's French Open, the 23-year-old has hit form come grass court season that has rivals hoping they don't find him in their side of the draw.
While none of Kyrgios' four ATP titles thus far have come on grass, it is arguably his best surface. His winning percentage in Grand Slams is highest at Wimbledon (71%), followed by the Australian Open (69%), French Open (50%), and finally the U.S. Open (44%).
On his way to the 2014 quarter-final at Wimbledon, which happened to be Kyrgios' debut at the world's most prestigious tournament, the Aussie beat Stéphane Robert, Richard Gasquet and Jiří Veselý before finding himself against Rafael Nadal.
In what was easily the Aussies biggest career win to date, a 19-year-old Kyrgios defeated then-world No.1 Nadal in four sets to become the first player to reach the quarters on his Wimbledon debut since Florian Mayer in 2004, and also became the lowest-ranked player since 1992 to defeat the World No. 1.
After Kyrgios had made the Australian Open quarters the following season, he became the first teenage male to reach two Grand Slam quarter-finals since Federer in 2001.
The sometimes belligerent Aussie has a 13-5 win/loss record in 2018 and has already claimed over $400,000 in prize money. But it is the resurgent form on grass following his French Open withdrawal through injury that has tennis fans daring to dream.
In the Stuttgart Open (or Mercedes Cup), Kyrgios accounted for German Maximilian Marterer and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez before taking on Federer in the semi-finals.
The Aussie took the first set in dramatic fashion, but with the Fed Express looking to claim back his world No.1 ranking, the legend turned up the heat and won the match in three sets.
Kyrgios is now currently involved in the Queens Club Championships, one of the world's premier grass court tournaments. Kyrgios hadn't claimed a single victory at the tournament before 2018 and was coming up against Britain's favourite son Andy Murray in his return from injury in the opening round.
Despite losing the first set, Kyrgios ran over the top of his counterpart and won the match in three sets. His following opponent was another United Kingdom native and semi-finalist of this year's Australian Open, Kyle Edmund.
Again, Kyrgios lost a set (the second) but otherwise dominated the clash against Edmund and moved on to the quarter finals where he will face Spanish veteran Feliciano López. If he is successful, he is likely to face Croatian star Marin Čilić in the semis.
The match against Edmund was as bizarre as it was impressive. Kyrgios was caught swearing whilst on camera, something which broadcaster the BBC had to apologise for. Kyrgios was also shown to be impersonating other player's serves, noteably the current world No.1. In doing this, the Aussie still had 32 aces.
Yes, @NickKyrgios mimicked Federer's serve in the middle of a match.
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 22, 2018
Yes, we were entertained. 😂
📺: #TCLive pic.twitter.com/ed7YgvCLTn
But in the middle of this strange, and often unnecessary behaviour, Kyrgios showed glimpses of the outrageous class and talent he possesses. Just look at the shot below.
No he didn't. 😱
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 21, 2018
The audacity! 👀
Only @NickKyrgios 🙌#QueensTennis pic.twitter.com/k1Vq8cPhCw
Of the top 10 favourites in this year's Wimbledon Championships, Kyrgios holds victories over eight of them.
| Player | ATP World Ranking | Matches with Kyrgios | Kyrgios wins | Kyrgios Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Federer | 1 | 3 | 1 | 33% |
| Rafael Nadal | 2 | 5 | 2 | 40% |
| Marin Čilić | 6 | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Dominic Thiem | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Alexander Zverev | 3 | 6 | 3 | 50% |
| Juan Martín del Potro | 4 | 0 | - | - |
| Novak Djokovic | 22 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| Andy Murray | 156 | 6 | 1 | 17% |
| Milos Raonic | 31 | 6 | 3 | 50% |
| Grigor Dimitrov | 5 | 4 | 1 | 25% |
There is no doubting Kyrgios' talent. With greater emphasis on fitness, strategy and preparation, it's difficult to see how he wouldn't be in the top 10 in the world, at worst.
The world is waiting for him to reach his potential, and signs are pointing towards this year being special.
Can we count on Kyrgios in 2018? Only time will tell.
