Kyrgios plays starring role in 3rd-round win

With favorite actor in attendance, Aussie advances.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — With Will Smith in the crowd and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga across the net, Nick Kyrgios was in his element as the main attraction for a night at the Australian Open. Time to put on a show. One of his favorite actors — Smith was making his Grand Slam debut as a spectator — watched Friday as Kyrgios held his composure to beat childhood hero Tsonga 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in the third round. The 17th-seeded Kyrgios won the last five points after falling behind 5-2 in the tiebreaker.

For an Australian public desperate to see a first homegrown winner of the men’s national title since 1976, a seemingly reinvigorated Kyrgios could be the redemption story of the tournament.

“Playing Jo, I was obviously very nervous. He was a guy I looked up to as a kid. Still do,” Kyrgios said, recounting how he brought a ball to be signed by Tsonga every day when the Frenchman reached the Australian Open final in 2008.

Then he gave a nod to Smith, the actor he would pick to play the role of Kyrgios in a movie.

“When I saw him out here I was so nervous. No joke,” Kyrgios said. “People think I’m cool, but I wanted him to think I was the coolest person ever.”

Cool was the optimal word late on Day 5, when no matches were suspended despite temperatures hitting 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for a second straight day.

The Kyrgios-Tsonga match pushed top-ranked Rafael Nadal onto the No. 2 court at Melbourne Park for his match against Damir Dzumhur.

The change of scenery worked for Nadal, who lost last year’s final to Roger Federer before going on to win the French Open and U.S. Open titles. Nadal reached the fourth round in Australia for the 11th time with the 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 win. He will next play No. 24 Diego Schwartzman, who beat Aleksandr Dolgopolov 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

The other French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko, didn’t make it to the second week, losing 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to 32nd-seeded Anett Kontaveit.

The seventh-seeded Ostapenko’s loss left only two major champions in the women’s draw. Maria Sharapova meets Angelique Kerber to determine which one.

The youngest player in the tournament and the oldest player in the men’s draw went out on Day 5.

Fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina ended Marta Kostyuk’s run with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Kostyuk, 15 entered the tournament ranked 521st. Her wins in the first two rounds made her the youngest player to win main-draw matches at the Australian Open since Martina Hingis in 1996.

Andreas Seppi withstood 52 aces from Ivo Karlovic for a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (5), 9-7 win.

Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki also made it through. Two days after saving two-match points and rallying from 5-1 down in the third set to progress through the second round, Wozniacki advanced 6-4, 6-3 over No. 30 Kiki Bertens on her fourth match point.

Madison Keys of the U.S., seeded 17th, advanced to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ana Bogdan.

CAMERON SPENCER / GETTY IMAGES Nick Kyrgios celebrates set point in his third-round, four-set victory against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.