Australian Open: 'Nick Kyrgios was on fire,' says Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem

Ice-cool Dominic Thiem rallied from two sets down to tame flamboyant Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open on Friday in front of a raucous crowd hours before Melbourne goes into COVID-19 lockdown.

Nick Kyrgios

Kyrgios produced a virtuoso performance in the first two sets, using every trick in the book, including underarm serves and tweeners, as he fed off the energy at a boisterous John Cain Arena, his favourite court.

But he couldn't sustain the intensity as US Open champion Thiem, last year's runner-up, found his groove with some dominant serving to fight back and outlast Kyrgios, 25, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. "It was my first match against Nick on his favourite court with an amazing crowd, there are easier things to do," said Thiem. "That is one of the tougher challenges we have in our sport, you never know what is coming. Nick is a huge player when he is on fire, like today."

Other results
Women's: Garbine Muguruza bt Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-1; Naomi Osaka bt Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-2; Simona Halep bt Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-3; Aryna Sabalenka bt Ann Li 6-3, 6-1

Men's: Milos Raonic bt Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-2, 6-21; Alexander Zverev bt Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3, 6-1; Aslan Karatsev bt Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3, 6-3; Grigor Dimitrov bt Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-0, 1-0 abandoned

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