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The Nick Kyrgios show returned to the Australian Open as the maverick showman defeated Britain’s Liam Broady in the first round at Melbourne Park.
Kyrgios has recently recovered from Covid-19 and was playing his first match since September, but his full bag of tricks was on show in a 6-4 6-4 6-3 victory.
In front of a raucous crowd he set the tone with an underarm serve through his legs in his first service game and continued from there.
It was a difficult role for Broady in his first main-draw match at the Australian Open, but the genial Stockport player looked to be enjoying the experience nonetheless.
Broady achieved a long-held goal by coming through qualifying with a fine win over Russia’s Roman Safiullin and will look to continue his push towards the top 100.
Kyrgios showed once again, though, what an extraordinary talent he is, producing a display of clean and powerful hitting a week after being bedridden.
“Obviously when I tested positive it wasn’t great news,” he said. “I had some doubts. But I couldn’t ask for a better team. The last week has been tough. I was lucky enough to have a tennis court just to hit some serves.
“I don’t know what I’ve done to this crowd because you guys are a zoo, but I’m just super happy to be here again. This is my favourite court in the entire world.”
Kyrgios, who paused to sip a fan’s beer on his way off the court, knows he is likely to have to leave John Cain Arena , the highest-ranked player in the draw in the absence of Novak Djokovic for the first blockbuster match of the tournament in the second round against second seed Daniil Medvedev.
And, if he can produce the same type of display, it could be a very uncomfortable assignment for the US Open champion.
Medvedev eased past Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen 6-1 6-4 7-6 (3) but Kyrgios has won their only two previous meetings.
“It’s definitely going to be not easy against the crowd. He’s going to try to pump himself up, he likes to play big names,” said Medvedev.
“But I will do my preparation, I will try to play good. If I’m going to be playing good it’s not going to be easy for him and probably we’re going to have a good match.”
Kyrgios played down his chances, saying of his opponent: “He’s probably the best player in the world at the moment. So I’m pretty excited, I’m excited for that moment. That’s why I play the game.
“I feel like those matches still excite me, to go out there and play the best in the world. That was always something I wanted to prove to people that someone like me could do. I’m not going to go into it with a lot of expectation. I’m going to go out there, have some fun, play my game.”
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas headlined the night session on Rod Laver Arena and was untroubled in a 6-2 6-4 6-3 victory over Swede Mikael Ymer.
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev was another comfortable winner, beating Gianluca Mager 6-3 6-2 6-2, but ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime had to recover from being bagelled by Emil Ruusuvuori before coming through 6-4 0-6 3-6 6-3 6-4.
Maxime Cressy won an all-American battle against John Isner, upsetting the 22nd seed in five sets, while 11th seed Jannik Sinner was a straight-sets winner over Joao Sousa.
Men’s first-round results
Alex Molcan (Svk) bt (8) Roman Safiullin (Rus) 6-3 7-6 (11-9) 5-7 7-6 (8-6), Pablo Andujar (Esp) bt Damir Dzumhur (Bih) 6-1 7-5 6-1, Kamil Majchrzak (Pol) bt Andreas Seppi (Ita) 6-1 6-1 7-5, (32) Alex De Minaur (Aus) bt Lorenzo Musetti (Ita) 3-6 6-3 6-0 6-3, Andy Murray (Sco) bt (21) Nikoloz Basilashvili (Geo) 6-1 3-6 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4, Taro Daniel (Jpn) bt Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (Chi) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 6-1, Steve Johnson (USA) bt Jordan Thompson (Aus) 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (6-8) 4-6 6-3 6-3, (11) Jannik Sinner (Ita) bt Joao Sousa (Por) 6-4 7-5 6-1, (15) Roberto Bautista Agut (Esp) bt Stefano Travaglia (Ita) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 5-7 6-1, Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) bt Marco Cecchinato (Ita) 6-4 7-5 7-6 (7-0), Frances Tiafoe (USA) bt Marco Trungelliti (Arg) 3-6 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-2, (20) Taylor Harry Fritz (USA) bt Maximilian Marterer (Ger) 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 6-2, (26) Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) bt Jiri Lehecka (Cze) 6-4 4-6 6-3 7-5, Benoit Paire (Fra) bt Thiago Moura Monteiro (Bra) 6-4 3-6 7-5 2-6 7-5, Sebastian Baez (Arg) bt Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Esp) 6-4 4-6 6-3 1-6 6-2, (4) Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) bt Mikael Ymer (Swe) 6-2 6-4 6-3, (5) Andrey Rublev (Rus) bt Gianluca Mager (Ita) 6-3 6-2 6-2, Ricardas Berankis (Lit) bt Roberto Carballes Baena (Esp) 6-1 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4, Norbert Gombos (Svk) bt Timofey Skatov (Kaz) 6-3 6-2 1-6 6-4, (27) Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Emilio Gomez (Ecu) 6-3 6-1 6-2, (24) Daniel Evans (Brit) bt David Goffin (Bel) 6-4 6-3 6-0, Arthur Rinderknech (Fra) bt Alexei Popyrin (Aus) 7-5 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-3, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Esp) bt Alex Bolt (Aus) 6-3 6-3 6-4, (9) Felix Auger-Aliassime (Can) bt Emil Ruusuvuori (Fin) 6-4 0-6 3-6 6-3 6-4, (13) Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (Arg) bt Filip Krajinovic (Ser) 6-3 6-4 7-5, Christopher O’Connell (Aus) bt Hugo Gaston (Fra) 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 4-6 6-1, Tomas Machac (Cze) bt Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Arg) 6-3 2-6 6-4 6-2, Maxime Cressy (USA) bt (22) John Isner (USA) 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4, Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt (29) Ugo Humbert (Fra) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, Botic Van de Zandschulp (Ned) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger) 6-4 6-3 6-2, Nick Kyrgios (Aus) bt Liam Broady (Brit) 6-4 6-4 6-3, (2) Daniil Medvedev (Rus) bt Henri Laaksonen (Swi) 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7-3)