Expect unexpected from wily Kyrgios

AS WITH virtually everybody else in the global tennis community, Grigor Dimitrov is aware of Nick Kyrgios’s humanitarian passion.

Impressed with the polarising Australian’s often anonymous charity work, Dimitrov also knows how dangerous – and unpredictable – Kyrgios can be on a tennis court.

A 2017 Melbourne Park semi-finalist, Dimitrov came off second best in a Kooyong Classic encounter last week.

It was a reminder – albeit in two exhibition sets – of Kyrgios’s capabilities as the Canberran prepares to start his seventh Australian Open campaign against Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

“You know anything can happen, but you’ve got to expect that, right?” Dimitrov said.

“Clearly he’s serving unbelievable at the moment, I think that’s gonna help him a lot at the Australian Open.

“This is close to the best I’ve seen him play right now.

“The guy is probably one of the most talented guys out there.

“He’s got a huge serve. He can use it at any time in a match.

“You never underestimate a guy like that. He’s got everything to win any tournament.

“The rest is up to him. You need to win seven matches, three sets every match. Once you enter that second week, anything can happen.”

Kyrgios, whose best Melbourne Park showing was a quarter-final place in 2015, admits his focus has strayed from tennis as he concentrated on driving fundraisers for bushfire relief causes.

But, on match day, he expects competitive instincts to sharpen.