Waking up in Nick of time

Showman Kyrgios displays his trademark flair

IT took until only the third game on Monday night for the Nick Kyrgios experience to reveal itself.

There was always a suspicion that Kyrgios and his high-octane game – even in spite of uncertainty around his sore knee – would be too overwhelming for a Portuguese qualifier in his grand slam debut.

The match followed the script, with Australian tennis’ greatest showman sending Frederico Ferreira Silva packing in a convincing 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory on his beloved John Cain Arena.

After an early hiccup, where Kyrgios didn’t move out of first gear in lethargically conceding a break to fall 0-2 down, the inevitable fun began.

“Are you awake? Are you awake? Are you awake?” (three times, just to be sure)

Whoever those Kyrgios words were for, it was him who came alive in an extraordinary game that included 10 deuces, great shot-making and eight break points before the Canberran finally broke through.

It took 27 minutes for the players to sit down for the first time, the bulk of them spent in that absorbing third game where Kyrgios talked himself into action.

This was a night when spectators needed to be as alert with their ears as their eyes.

After the seventh of those eight break points went begging, Kyrgios roared towards his support team: “Tell your girlfriend to get out of my box.”

It’s unclear whether his brother Christos’ girlfriend, Alicia Gowans, was the target, but it hardly mattered, even after he made the same request after the fifth game. For the record, no one left Kyrgios box.

A random spectator also felt Kyrgios’ gentle scorn, after being a tad noisy while Ferreira Silva was serving. “Be quiet … have some respect for the kid.” This was all before the world No.47 secured a one-set lead. And while the sideshow was entertaining, the main act – Kyrgios’ tennis – was impressive enough, after he shed some understandable rust from almost a year off at last week’s Murray River Open.

Kyrgios’ serve generated 14 aces, his inside-out forehand crashed through Ferreira Silva’s defences more than he would’ve enjoyed, his backhand is always reliable and his volleying was mostly first class.