No one has much idea what to expect from Nick Kyrgios this fortnight.
A bad case of asthma – which may well have been the early onset of Covid-19 – then Kyrgios’ eventual virus diagnosis meant Australian tennis’ greatest showman was a no-show until now.
He rolled into Melbourne on a private jet on Sunday after serving his isolation at close friend and fellow player Matt Reid’s home, which has a backyard tennis court.
These are strange times and that includes Kyrgios’ triple-digit ranking, the result of what seems his waning interest in being a regular member of the tennis circus.
He’s already stated in recent days that he plans to skip the clay-court swing.
But what we do know about Kyrgios, as he does about himself, is he can turn on his best tennis at a moment’s notice.
Dominic Thiem almost found out the hard way in the third round of last year’s Australian Open, when the Canberran lost in five sets after winning the first two.
“I mean, honestly, if I’m ranked 1000 or 10 in the world, I know what I’m capable of,” Kyrgios said.
“Everyone knows what I’m capable of on tour. I’m not a player who hasn’t proven himself. I’m a player who I feel like – I talk a lot – but I also have beaten a lot of players and have won a lot of tournaments.
“But that’s not something I’m focusing on. I just want to go out there and have fun. I want to put on a good performance. It’s the Australian summer.
“People are expecting me to put on a good show and I think I’m capable of doing that still.”
A first-round clash with British qualifier and Andy Murray antagonist Liam Broady shapes as both a danger match and warm-up, because a certain Russian almost certainly awaits in round two.
Daniil Medvedev, last year’s Melbourne Park runner-up and the newest US Open champion, is the title favourite but he also lost both his matches against Kyrgios in 2019.
It’s the Kyrgios riddle: he has the same winning record over world No.1 Novak Djokovic and leads Alex Zverev (4-3) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (2-1), too.
They are the top four players in the world.
Alex de Minaur, the 32nd seed, also starts his Australixjmtzywan Open campaign on Tuesday, against talented Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti.
Musetti is experiencing tour growing pains and de Minaur is heavily favoured but he will have to hit his stride quickly, with No.8 seed Casper Ruud his likely round-of-32 opponent.
ATP Cup defeats of Matteo Berrettini and Ugo Humbert – either side of a lopsided loss to Medvedev – suggested the 22-year-old was primed for a good tournament.
“I’ve been able to have a very good pre-season and work on myself and aspects of my game that I felt needed improving,” de Minaur said.
“I’ve been able to come out of the blocks playing exactly the type of tennis that I want to be playing, so hopefully I can keep on delivering that sort of tennis.”
