Right from the moment he entered the stadium for his opening round match against an unsuspecting Briton Liam Broady, Aussie
Nick Kyrgios
conducted the stands like only he can.
The eccentric world No 115, who broke in the opening game of the match, turned to the crowd and staked his claim. "This is my house," he shouted, pointing at the John Caine Arena.
That's the only invitation the fans needed, responding with the
Cristiano Ronaldo celebration of 'Seiiiiiiiiiii'.
"I can't believe they did the Ronaldo thing so much," Kyrgios said. "I thought they were going to do it for like 10 minutes. They did it for two-and-a-half hours, like every point. It was a zoo out there."
Kygios, 26, who was ranked No. 13 five years ago, sent down a 'tweener serve' to clinch the second game of the match. The Aussie, playing his first match since September last year, was down with
Covid
which initially cast doubts on whether he would play the
Australian Open
.
Kyrgios now takes on title-favourite
Daniil Medvedev
against who he leads the head-to-head 2-0, having won both their clashes in 2019.
"From the get-go, I know I've got the crowd in the palm of my hand and any time I can use that to spark a moment or spark some energy," said Kyrgios, who took a sip of beer from a fan on his way out of the facility, pausing only for a moment before deciding it would be rude to refuse. "They haven't seen much sport, haven't been able to do much the last couple years. I could definitely feel they were really ready to get behind someone or something."
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