Pictured : Nick Kyrgios with the Aegon Nottingham Challenge trophy. (Copyright free images)
Teenage qualifier Nick Kyrgios celebrated his Aegon Nottingham Challenge final win over fellow Australian Sam Groth with a wild card into The Championships, Wimbledon.
Before the World No. 173 collected his trophy on centre court on Saturday, Kyrgios took a phone call from Wimbledon tournament referee Andrew Jarrett confirming his spot in the main draw of the men's singles event at the All England Club.
"As soon as I won that match an enormous amount of feeling rushed over me," said Kyrgios after the 7-6 (3) 7-6(7) victory.
"The phone call put a massive smile on my face.
"It is a great opportunity to go out there at Wimbledon and play a tournament that everyone dreams of."
Groth, who did not drop any of his service games throughout the tournament, was proud of his achievements in the East Midlands despite being edged out in the decider.
"I'm disappointed to lose the final, but my goal this week was to go through and not lose serve," said Groth.
"I held 57 times in a row and didn't get broken for the week. Going into Wimbledon I take a lot of confidence from that.
"I lost a tight final, but got five matches on the grass and will be at a career-high ranking again on Monday in singles so I can look at it as a successful week."
Victory was Kyrgios' eighth in as many days at the Nottingham Tennis Centre, having progressed through three rounds of qualifying just to reach the 32-player main draw.
It was an incredible turnaround for the teen sensation after he went out in the opening round of the Aegon Trophy at the same venue a week earlier.
"I knew I was more than capable of winning the tournament if I played my game and had the right attitude," said Kyrgios.
"Eight matches seems like an absolute journey to win this."
Paul Hutchins, the Aegon Nottingham Challenge tournament director and former GB Davis Cup captain, heaped praise on Kyrgios after he clinched his third ATP Challenger title of the year.
"Nick Kyrgios is a player whose status as the best 19 year old in the world will continue to rise," said Hutchins.
"He has the game where everything has room and potential to improve - he just seems to have another gear when he needs to step up.
"Suited to all surfaces he can do damage at Wimbledon and quickly go up the ATP world rankings. I expect him to easily be in the ranking cut for the 2015 ATP 250 Nottingham event and hope that he returns because he will again be a very popular player here."
Remarkably, another Australian qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova will play in Sunday's women's singles final against third seed Timea Bacsinszky at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.
Former World No. 25 Gajdosova, who is now ranked 223, got past fourth seed Andrea Hlavackova 6-4 6-4, while Bacsinszky got the better of America's Nicole Gibbs 6-4 6-1.
After advancing to the singles decider Gajdosova returned to the court with fellow Australian Arina Rodionova to claim the women's doubles title with a 7-6(0) 6-1 win over the pairing of Veronica Cepede Royg and Stephanie Vogt.
Entry to the Aegon Nottingham Challenge is free for all spectators.
For more information, including orders of play and a full list of results for the Nottingham Festival of Tennis, visit www.nottinghamfestivaloftennis.com.