Nick Kyrgios’ experience was in full swing against Dominic Thiem, from the ace of the undearm who successfully closed the second set to the mistake in the back and between the legs that gave way to the third and more – much to the delight of the last Open spectators from Australia for a while.
Kyrgios, a 25-year-old Australian who is half a showman and half a side show, had a lot of fun while having a perfect start, inciting a noisy and partisan crowd and building a two-set lead in the third round Friday against second-placed Thiem, the current US Open champion and last year’s runner-up in Melbourne Park.
Not surprisingly, the talented and stormy Kyrgios was decidedly less amused after his level of play dropped, resulting in a thrown racket, his usual shuttle swing with the chair umpire, some warnings that resulted in a points penalty – and a loss difficult to swallow for Thiem by a score of 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
At Flushing Meadows last September, Thiem became the first man in 71 years to return to win the final after losing the first two sets, so that was nothing new for him. And in calm contrast to the ever-excited Kyrgios, Thiem reserved his displays of emotion for a simple raised right fist wave that marked his pause to go 4-3 in the fifth set and then the final point.
This was Kyrgios’ second consecutive setter at the John Cain Arena with a capacity of 10,500; in the previous round, he erased two match points en route to the elimination of No. 29 Ugo Humbert.
This time, it was he who exploded the lead, which could have been even more significant, had he not missed a pair of break points at the beginning of the third set.
The stadium was about three-quarters full on Friday; many of those present were not concerned with being socially distant or wearing masks that would become mandatory at midnight for the state of Victoria. The state government imposed a five-day block because of an increase in COVID-19 cases.
As long as competition in the tournament can continue, no spectators will be allowed from Saturday.
“This was a good last game before the blockade,” said Thiem. “It’s very sad to say. ”
So, with one last night out for now, people were living their best lives.
They sang at the exchanges, while Kyrgios drank from a can of soda. They jumped and shouted at the winners of Kyrgios. They hit the backs of the seats. They applauded Thiem’s mistakes. They booed closed calls that went against Kyrgios – although such decisions are determined by an automated camera system, not line judges, at this event.
The show started during the warm-up, when Kyrgios – wearing a beige sleeve on his left leg – paused in his practice to shake his racket and ask his Australian teammates to speak louder. They obeyed, of course, getting a big smile from their guy.
When Kyrgios broke the serve in the opening game of the game, he jumped for joy and savored the cascading applause, placing his right hand on his ear to beg for more – and again, they obeyed.
His first game had an underarm serve and half-volleyball between his legs, none of which worked – nor were the last maneuvers he would attempt.
When Thiem pushed a forehand to break and go 5-4 in the second, Kyrgios shouted ‘Come on, baby!’ ‘As he strutted for change. When the underarm ace ended the set, Kyrgios stretched his arms as long as he said : “Aren’t you entertained? ”
He later questioned the loss of a point in an offside call, saying that his shout was not louder or more distracting to his opponent than other players’ grunts.
Thiem was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Melbourne Park a year ago and then won his first Grand Slam title at the United States Open in September. Thiem was the first man in 71 years to come back from a two-set hole in the New York final and now he has overcome that kind of deficit again.
Thiem will now face Grigor Dimitrov for a quarter-final spot.
Also on Friday, eighth-placed Diego Schwartzman was eliminated in the third round by Aslan Karatsev, a Russian qualifier in 114th place and making his Grand Slam debut.
By far, the biggest victory in Karatsev’s 27-year career came through a 50-5 hard-to-believe margin of total winners and an uneven score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
He is only the fifth man since 2000 to reach the round of 16 in his first participation in an important championship. He is also the first qualified to reach Melbourne Park this far since Milos Raonic, a decade ago.
Karatsev had never defeated a player ranked higher than 48th. He will now find another player with a quarter-final spot in play – No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Schwartzman was a semi-finalist at the French Open last year and entered Friday with a 9-0 record against qualifying in Grand Slam matches.
Previously, Alexander Zverev needed only 1 hour and 43 minutes to defeat Adrian Mannarino at Rod Laver Arena and move on to the fourth round.
Zverev, the sixth semifinal who reached the semifinals of last year’s tournament, had 19 aces and 35 winners en route to victory 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. He is after his first Grand Slam title in his career.
Zverev had three wins over Mannarino in 2020, including a four-set victory in the third round of the United States Open in September.
“I am very happy,” said Zverev after Friday’s victory. “I played with him three times last year, and they were all long and difficult matches. Today, I decided that I would hit the ball a little harder.”
Zverev, 23, will then face Dusan Lajovic, number 23, who defeated Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.
In other men’s matches, the number 18 Dimitrov advanced to the fourth round when Pablo Carreno Busta retired due to an injury in the second set. Dimitrov led 6-0, 1-0 when Carreno Busta gave up.
The Canadians bet two out of three in the third round matches. The third only lost because he played against a Canadian.
Auger-Aliassime won No. 11 Denis Shapovalov in the all-Canadian game at Margaret Court Arena 7-5, 7-5, 6-3.
Shapovalov had won his two previous Grand Slam matches at the US Open in 2018 and 2019. Auger-Aliassime says “he beat me quite a few times.”
Auger-Aliassime also reached the fourth round of the US Open last year. Then he faces Russian Aslan Karatsev.
Canadian veteran Raonic advanced to the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the eighth time by defeating Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
The best performance of the 14th placed Raonic at the Australian Open was reaching the semifinals in 2016.
Associated Press information contributed to this report.