And with that, I’ll move on to Daniel Harris for the afternoon session, and two games that, although at different times, are very tight. It was Rybakina 7-5 Martic in the first set on track number 1.
Kyrgios, by the way, has already done an armpit service. Nakashima seems unperturbed so far by the commotion. It’s 4-3, and new balls. The same cannot be said of De Minaur, who now has a 2-0 lead over Garin, whose drop-shot winner screamed above the line, off the rope. A five seven seems inevitable and the Chilean seems to have more energy.
An early break in the fourth set, with Garin on the rise and the beneficiary of De Minaur wasting an opportunity on the net. 0-1 in the fourth set. 1-2 in sets.
Alex De Minaur loses his service at the start of the quarter. Photography: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
Updated at 13.58 BST
Although De Minaur has failed to sideline Garin, his possible next opponents, Nakashima and Kyrgios, are 3-2, out of service. Kyrgios had a good opportunity to give his team the lead but the home team’s goalkeeper made the save. Kyrgios complained about the curvature of the baseline. There is always something.
De Minaur serves and holds fast. Here’s the tiebreaker and his chance to knock out Garin. 6-6. He makes a 1-1 volley, despite a challenge from Garin. Great line judge call. Good service and is 2-1 De Minaur. Garin detects the chance to win, but then misjudges his right. 3-1 to De Minaur. An ace makes it 3-2. Then it’s 3-3 when Garin advances and hits one out of De Minaur’s reach. Then it’s De Minaur’s turn to get too excited and fail, to go down 4-3. Then Garin’s serve and volley lead him to 5-3, a real stubborn play from him. His service is just as good for the next and there are three points out of seven. And, in the service of De Minaur, Garin is offered an overload that will not be missed. This set took over an hour, and now there is much more to go through. 2-6 5-7 7-6
On the center court, they are up and running, with Nakashima holding the service to go 1-0. Soon, Kyrgios holds on, and is 1-1 in the first set.
Photography: Zac Goodwin / PA
Updated at 13.52 BST
Garin tries to leave the previous game behind and, at 30-30, whips a disguised right into De Minaur. They play a 40-30 tone rally, and Garin can only score. Deuce. Then an error from him in the same right, and a breaking point to De Minaur. Then, a pretty incredible concentration, they both climb all over the place, and Garin saves himself by forcing De Minaur to retrieve the ball from the bottom line. A take on courage, the courage of the Chilean. It’s 6-5 in the third.
On the center court, Nick Kyrgios now faces Brandon Nakashima. The evening show is almost with us. On track no. 1, Elena Rybakina faces Petra Martic, and after being 3-0, she is now 3-3.
Another hesitation in De Minaur’s serve at 15-30, but a great right-hander makes Garin extend. Then comes a failed drop shot and two. And De Minaur gets an unlikely escape to somehow rescue what should have been a Garin winner, instead of throwing him back. Then, when Garin tries a drop, he reads it, by 5-5.
De Minaur chases through the net to volley home, and then drops a beauty to tie the third at 4-4. The pressure is now on Garín to hold on. A stop / drop volley leads him to 15-0, then De Minaur’s error gives him a 30-0 lead. Then a shock at once, and it’s 40-0. But then De Minaur reads a faded drop shot, and Garin can’t get a low-flying right, and suddenly the pressure rises again, just because he hit the net and flew home. 5-4 in the third, and now De Minaur needs to be saved.
Another double foul by Garin, and the 30-30, although it comes out better at a time when they both run into the net and he hits the ball towards his opponent. Then, however, it can only clean from the bottom line. Great service, an ace, is challenged. It was miles, a real loss of a challenge. And then a good lob sends De Minaur to run and keeps his nose in front in the third set.
De Minaur is still struggling with the return of Garin’s service, and also his. Throw a double for a break point. And he saves it by crashing down the line with a backhand hit down the line. Do the same to suffocate the next breaking point. Then Garin can only throw a live out of bounds. Then comes another double fault. Nerves increase and energy decreases. A dangerous combination but still manages to hold on, Garin scoring after a long rally.
A double foul, very inopportune, gives De Minaur two break points and he catches them, which means we return to service with 2-3 in the third, two sets from the Australian.
Great grip of Garin, in love, and with an ace. 3-0 in the third set, a major advantage. De Minaur regains his momentum a bit with a 3-1 service hold. It is now an even match with the rising Chilean.
Cristian Garin. Photography: Neil Hall / EPA
Updated at 13.18 BST
Garin holds the first game of the third set with some ease, and then runs to a 0-30 lead in the service of De Minaur. De Minaur calls for pleasure when he gets home for 30-30. It follows the hell of a rally, and De Minaur, grimacing, gets another breaking point. And this time, Garin grabs him. He’s back at it, far away, but a shine. It goes 2-0 and serves for the third.
Updated at 12.57 BST
De Minaur a little staggering when he serves. That happened against Broady on Saturday, and a double foul, his first of the game, makes him two again. Garin sees his chance and claims a break point. De Minaur saves her with an ace, then takes advantage and returns the seven point, but he can only score. Still, he has another chance when Garin goes to break and makes a click of the ball. And finally, with his 24th unforced error, albeit with a fairly quick serve, Garin scores and they are two sets ahead of De Minaur. 6-2 7-5 so far, and about to meet Big Nick Kyrgios if the two Australians progress.
De Minaur forces a breaking point, and seems to have been saved with a defensive right, and the momentum returns to De Minaur, who can now serve the second set for the second time with the 6-5.
Garin’s eye is definitely on now, reaching 0-30 in De Minaur’s serve, and then 0-40 with a winner beating his rival on the net. This is the party’s plan so far. De Minaur must be saved as he did in the first set when he served. This time, he can’t do it, and draws the second set with the 5-5.
It’s soon enough 5-3 at De Minaur, through a successful challenge from a long-range Garin base shot. Garin at least uses it for the set for a two-set lead.
Garin continues to fight for his life, and is presented with a chance to break up. And on the net, he manages to grab it, by the top of the net. There is a visible relief as he prepares to serve the next game with a 3-3. But then he offers his own two breakpoints, the first of which he takes away, and it’s 4-3 at De Minaur.
Cristian Garín from Chile in action on the net. Photography: Neil Hall / EPA
Updated at 12.27 BST
Evidence that Garin has not finished giving up the ghost, while making a house noise above and then serving. Now it’s 3-2 for De Minaur.
A good shot from a drop precipitates De Minaur to 40-0, and then Garin, who seems to be losing heart, takes a shot from the bottom line out of bounds. It’s 3-1 in the second.
Then, after maintaining his own service, De Minaur breaks Garin’s service. It goes 2-1 and fulfills a break and a start.
A break point at 0-40 is soon forced by Garin, but De Minaur sees it outside, then makes a volley at home with a backhand over it, followed by an ace. 1-1 in the second and De Minaur looks very strong.
Garin suffered from an eye problem in that first series, which suggested that the pollen count in south-west London was reaching him a bit. It looked like he was improving after a brief chat with the coach, and his accuracy seems to be returning. Take the first game to advance early to the second set.
This is pollen for you. Photography: Sébastien Bozon / AFP / Getty Images
Updated at 12.04 BST
De Minaur soon has two seven-pointers in 40-15, dominating Garin without asking him to play close to his best tennis. And, after a couple of let-cords, Garin fits in, and it’s a 6-2 first set in just 40 minutes.
Good service and volley from Garin, as he responds well to the speed of De Minaur to two, only to misinterpret the next point and meet again to two. Finally, it grants the double break to a beaten lob of the Australian that with the 5-2 will serve for the first set.
Garin’s service is better than in that unstable first game, and he’s testing De Minaur a little more. However, he changes his racket to 30-30 in the service of his opponent, but without success, it is soon 4-2.
Good and easy catch from Garin before the first break in play, but De Minaur’s speed on the court makes him hold up fast enough as well. 3-1 now, the Australian, Garin has to stay within the lines of the court a little more often.
Alex De Minaur returns the ball to Chilean Cristian Garín. Photography: Sébastien Bozon / AFP / Getty Images
Updated at 11.51 BST
Garin seems to get his pace back pretty quickly and pretty much two break points in De Minaur’s serve, though he can only reverse on the net for the second, which means he’s ten. He makes a mistake in presenting the game point, but his speed is causing problems for De Minaur and another breaking point is offered. A great serve eliminates it, but this is becoming a long and old first serve game, but in the end, it holds up 2-0 and a clear lead in the first set.
De Minaur and Garin get underway, Garin is not very promising for a double foul on the first point of the match, and an error in a live show presents two breaking points. And the first has been swallowed up, that is, the 1-0 with an early break from the Australian.
Before we start with Alex de …