Eight years ago, a baby-faced Nick Kyrgios did the unthinkable at Wimbledon.
At just 19 years of age, Kyrgios took to centre court and knocked off Rafael Nadal in a huge Round of 16 upset, advancing to the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time.
Fast-forward to 2022, and the 27-year-old Kyrgios is back in the quarter-finals after a five-set victory over Brandon Nakashima. Once again, he did on centre court.
Kyrgios had a few mishaps during the clash with Nakashima, but ultimately proved too strong for the American with a 4-6 6-4 7-6 3-6 6-2 win, setting up a battle with Cristian Garin.
It has been a rollercoaster ride for Kyrgios to get back to this level of tennis. In the past eight years, he has dealt with enormous media scrutiny for his on-court antics, which has seen him crucified in the Australian media and hit with numerous heavy fines by tennis governing bodies.
But his entertainment value and freakish ability keeps him in the mix, and there's a reason he is playing on centre court despite being ranked 40th in the world.
Speaking to the media after his victory, Kyrgios admitted it was good to prove his critics wrong and reflected on his rise to the quarter-finals eight years after his breakout moment.
“I sit here now in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon again, and I just know there’s so many people that are so upset,” he said.
“I just feel like I’ve been through so much. I feel like I’m able to stay more composed.
"I stepped out here against one of the greatest of all time and beat Nadal (in 2014), so these were all things I had at the back of my mind.
“Obviously Brandon hadn’t played on this court, so all these experiences I’ve had I think got me over the line today.
“Today is probably the first time in my career where I wasn’t playing well, regardless of playing Centre Court Wimbledon, fully packed crowd, I was able to just say 'wow, look how far I’ve come’, to myself.
“His level didn’t drop but my five-set level is pretty good and I’ve been here before, done it before and that is what I was thinking about.
“I’ve never lost a five-setter here.”
Kyrgios looked set for an all-Australian affair in the final eight, with Alex de Minaur taking the first two sets in his match with Garin.
But the 23-year-old threw away two match points and allowed Garin back into the contest, with the pair going to five sets and the Aussie falling short 2-6 5-7 7-6 6-4 7-6.
“I was really excited to play Demon," Kyrgios said.
"He’s been flying the Aussie flag for so long and I came on court when he was two sets to one up, so I was expecting to play him.
"But I’m not even going to think about that, I need a glass of wine."
After already knocking off his biggest threat to date in Stefanos Tsitsipas, Kyrgios is now just two matches away from a grand slam final.
Can he go all the way at Wimbledon? Of course he can - but it will be a wild ride if we get there.