India's Sharan at pre-quarters; Nadal teaches Kyrgios lesson at Wimbledon

London (PTI): Divij Sharan kept the Indian interest alive at the Wimbledon Championships by reaching the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals with partner Marcelo Demoliner, quelling a spirited fight from Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen here Friday.

Battling hard for over three hours, Sharan and his Brazilian partner eked out a 7-6(1) 5-7 7-6(6) 6-4 win over the Belgian pair. Left-handed Sharan's best ever Grand Slam performance had come at the Wimbledon last year when he made the quarterfinals with Artem Sitak. He has also reached the third round at Australian Open (2018), French Open (2017) and US Open (2013). Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes, Purav Raja and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan have all exited from the men's doubles competition at Wimbledon.

Earlier, Rafael Nadal may not end up winning a third Wimbledon singles title but he will take joy from having beaten his 'bete noire' Nick Kyrgios in an engrossing but bad-tempered grudge match.

The 33-year-old Spaniard on Thursday came through in four sets 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/3) which saw fiery but talented Australian Kyrgios receive a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour after a running argument with the umpire while twice serving under-arm. Nadal's pleasure was evident when he sealed the match against a man he had accused of lacking respect for the sport as he fist-pumped and jumped in the air yelling to his camp seated on Centre Court. "I was aware of everything," said Nadal, who was winning his 50th match at Wimbledon. "I was just next to him so I don't want to comment on this but potentially he is a Grand Slam winner."