Kyrgios has go at Jo

Aussie No.1 to take on childhood hero

NICK Kyrgios will confront Jo-Wilfried Tsonga today, a decade after following the flamboyant Frenchman around Melbourne Park when a starry-eyed youngster.

Tsonga had only just started making a name for himself as he stormed into the 2008 Australian Open final against Novak Djokovic.

Kyrgios was years away from fame that has come with being Australia’s next great hope and the current world No.17 ranked player.

“I was 12. I went to all his practice sessions with a new ball. He signed it every day,” Kyrgios recalled.

“I don’t know if he remembers. I didn’t miss one of his practice sessions.

“Obviously (he’s) a guy I looked up to growing up. I’ve seen him play a lot. I know what he’s going to bring. He knows what I’m going to bring. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Kyrgios cruised into their third round match-up after downing Viktor Troicki in three sets 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

Tsonga, now 32, did it much harder, having to pull out all stops in beating Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-7 5-7 in an epic five-set thriller.

Kyrgios lost a tight three-setter to Tsonga, the Open’s 15th seed, in their only previous meeting, in Marseille last year.

Today’s winner will play either Bulgarian third seed Grigor Dimitrov or rising Russian Andrey Rublev for a quarter-final berth.

Kyrgios was banking on playing Tsonga on Rod Laver Arena after winning his first and second-round matches over at Hisense Arena, his last marred by a heckler, helicopter and PA system troubles.

“I think I’m ready for it,” he said. “I played a lot of matches on Rod Laver, I’ve hit on it a lot of times.

“Rod Laver is one of the best stadiums in the world.”

With temperatures set to reach 39°C, the fact Kyrgios has spent a total of 119 less minutes on court than Tsonga this week could really come into play.