Just like the sound system on his favourite court, Hisense Arena, Nick Kyrgios began match two of his Australian Open campaign in a state of less-than-ideal function before sealing a straight-sets victory 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
In the same twilight slot as Monday, Kyrgios set out to repeat his first round demolition job, but while the No 17 seed’s outfit and newfound zen demeanor promised more of the same, something at first seemed amiss.
The Australian’s judgment appeared off – he feigned to leave groundstrokes that landed well in, while at the same time attempting several drop shots from deep in the court that found the middle of the net (and would have safely been returned had they landed in).
Usually able to fall back on his thumping serve when in trouble, Kyrgios also found himself in the unusual position of being out-served by his opponent, who regularly rattled off aces at the 200km mark.
Yet, as much as Viktor Troicki’s serve was a weapon it was also his undoing; of the three double-faults he served for the set, two crucially allowed Kyrgios a look at break point, and a look was all he needed.
He closed out the opening set in unremarkable fashion, taking back the ace tally from the Serb as if out of pride more than anything. By set’s end he had won a remarkable 100% of first serves in, to the delight of a stadium with barely a seat to fill.
At its most electric, Hisense warrants the tag ‘people’s court’. Whether the purists like it or not, blaring crowd-pleasers like The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army (a favourite of the Fanatics) pumps up the atmosphere, and gives the court a tennis’-equivalent-to-T20 feel. The audience love it, and it suits the flashiness of Kyrgios’s game.
But, on a night that was no advertisement for the Australian Open, the sound disintegrated so badly at the start of the second set that the court umpire was forced to abandon the on-court microphone and bark instructions at the disbelieving players instead. It was farcical, and play was briefly delayed for the microphone to be replaced, only for the sound to worsen again. The umpire continued to speak over the PA with a sound quality worse than anything Skype has ever produced, to the point where the crowd laughed uncontrollably every time he spoke.
It was more than distraction, it was embarrassing – and tournament officials shook their heads courtside, seemingly powerless to do anything about it.
The tennis continued, but distractions abounded. The Serb’s erratic serving cost him once more. He resorted to practising his ball toss between points as more double-faults ensued. As it was in the first, it was all the window the Australian needed, the early break enough for Kyrgios to take the second as the rest unfolded to serve.
Between, a man in the crowd was ejected for ‘swirling’ mid-point to take a selfie, drawing Kyrgios’s personal ire. The Australian stared him down until the spectator escorted himself to security. Then, a helicopter hovered overhead for what seemed an excessive amount of time. Eyes to the sky in disbelief, Kyrgios showed understandable frustration, but never lost his cool.
“I told the umpire to maybe just not use a microphone any more because the crowd just found it so amusing,” said Kyrgios. “I mean, I was just like ‘dude, just stop doing it’. It’s going to create more of a circus … it was tough.”
However, Kyrgios also acknowledged that he had coped with circumstances much better than he would have even a year ago. “I think last year, the year before, I probably would have been still out on the court right now, [I] could be losing that match.
“It’s pretty easy to think, why me? The guy in the crowd was crazy. I didn’t really know what was going on. [Then with] the helicopter, that’s when I was thinking like, of course, it’s at my match. It’s just hovering there. Of course, it is.”
From thereon in, the No 17 seed continued to show patience and resolve, resisting the urge to over-hit. He was not as ostentatious as he can be, but he was efficient, and his first service advantage proved the difference.
If there was ever a sign that he was remade in a calmer mould, Wednesday night was surely it. Next up, he will face Jo Wilfred-Tsonga in a year in which he has already outperformed his last outing at Melbourne Park.
Later on Margaret Court Arena, Matt Ebden became the latest of Kyrgios’s compatriots to be sent packing from his home grand slam, losing in straight-sets to Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Australian No 2 men’s player was left to rue missed opportunities in the first set, winning one of just four break point attempts on the traditionally-strong Dolgopolov serve. In his first match of the tournament, the world No 38 Dolgopolov lost only 10 points on his first serve, and a similar pattern repeated here. The Ukrainian likewise hit more outright groundstroke winners, Ebden better suited to a match of attrition, his defensive scrambling keeping him in points longer than most.
In the tiebreak, the Australian was blown off the court, outclassed in almost every element of the game. It was a flat end to a promising first set that continued the form that has seen him rocket from a ranking of 699 to 78, culminating in the career highlight of defeating his first top 20 player in John Isner on Monday.
On a night where off-court distractions at times overshadowed the tennis itself, Margaret Court arena became embroiled in a drama of its own when in the second set Dolgopolov lost his shoe, and the point, before the central umpire ordered the men to replay the point. Ebden remonstrated, before the umpire seemingly changed her mind and awarded the point to Ebden, resulting in further, more intense remonstration from Dolgopolov, still missing a shoe.
Dolgopolov laughed off the incident, explaining that he was upset because “usually when we drop an item, the point gets stopped”. “I thought that was what was supposed to happen. I was arguing because I wanted to replay the point.”
It was yet another oddity on a bizarre night for the Australian Open.
