Nick Kyrgios’ experience had full effect against Dominic Thiem, from the unarmed ace who successfully closed out the second set to the back lap, between the legs, who gave up the third and more, for delight of the last spectators of the Australian Open for a while.
Kyrgios, a twenty-five-year-old Australian who is part of the showman and sidehow, had a good time while in a perfect start, aspiring to a turbulent, partisan crowd and building a two-set lead in the third round. . Friday against No. 2 seed Thiem, reigning US Open champion and last year’s runner-up at Melbourne Park.
Not surprisingly, the talented and stormy Kyrgios felt less fun after his level of play dropped, resulting in a thrown racket, his usual kind of back and forth with the referee of the chair, a couple of warnings that resulted in a one-off penalty: – and a hard-to-swallow loss against 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 win the final again after falling the first two sets, so this was nothing new to him. And, in stark contrast to the ever-lively Kyrgios, Thiem reserved his displays of emotion for a simple shake of a raised right fist that marked his break to go up 4-3 in the fifth set and then in the last. point.
This was Kyrgios’ second five consecutive seven with a 10,500-seat John Cain Arena; in the previous round, he erased two match points on the way to the elimination of number 29 from Ugo Humbert.
This time, it was he who propelled an advantage, which could have been even more significant, if he hadn’t lost a couple of break points at the start of the third set.
The stadium had about three-quarters on Friday; many of the attendees were unaware that they were socially estranged or wearing the masks that were to be mandatory at midnight for the state of Victoria. The state government has imposed a five-day closure due to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
While competition in the tournament may continue, no spectators will be allowed from Saturday.
“That was a good last game before the closing,” Thiem said. “It’s very sad to say.”
So for now, with one night out, people were living their best lives.
They sang to the changes, while Kyrgios took a soft drink. They jumped and called the winners of Kyrgios. They hit the backs of the seats. They rejoiced at Thiem’s mistakes. They booed line calls that went against Kyrgios, although these decisions are determined by an automated system of cameras, not line judges, at this event.
The show began during the warm-up, when Kyrgios, wearing a beige sleeve on his left leg, paused in his practice and served to shake his racket and ask his Australian teammates to strengthen themselves. Of course, they forced to provoke a big smile from their boy.
When Kyrgios broke the serve in the opening game of the match, he jumped for delight and enjoyed the cascading cheers, clapping his right hand to his ear to beg again – and again, they complied.
His first game featured an armpit service and a half volley between legs, none of which worked, nor were they the last of these tricks he would try.
When Thiem threw a right arm to break and leave the trail 5-4 in the second, Kyrgios shouted “Come on, girl!” As he headed for the transition. When the ace of armpits ended the set, Kyrgios stretched out his arms, if you would say, “Doesn’t it entertain you?”
He later questioned the loss of a point in an obstacle call, saying his shout no longer distracted his opponent or his growls from other players.
Thiem was runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park a year ago and then won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September. Thiem was the first man in 71 years to return from a two-set hole in the New York final and has now once again canceled out that kind of deficit.
Thiem will now face Grigor Dimitrov to secure a place in the quarterfinals.
Also on Friday, No. 8 seed Diego Schwartzman was eliminated in the third round by Aslan Karatsev, a 114th-ranked Russian qualifier who was making his Grand Slam debut.
By far, the biggest career victory of Karatsev, 27, came with a hard-to-believe 50-5 margin in total winners and a mismatched 6-3, 6-3, 6- 3.
He is only the fifth man since 2000 to reach the round of 16 in his first appearance in a major championship. It is also the first ranked to reach Melbourne Park from Milos Raonic a decade ago.
Karatsev had never surpassed any player ranked above 48th. He will now face another top player with a quarter-final berth in play: No. 20, Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Schwartzman was a semifinalist at last year’s French Open and entered Friday with a 9-0 record against the Grand Slam qualifiers.
Before that, Alexander Zverev needed just 1 hour and 43 minutes to defeat Adrian Mannarino at the Rod Laver Arena and move on to the fourth round.
Zverev, the No. 6 seed who made the semifinals of last year’s tournament, had 19 aces and 35 winners on the road to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory. He is pursuing his first career Grand Slam title.
Zverev won three wins against Mannarino in 2020, including a four-set victory in the third round of the US Open in September.
“I’m very happy,” Zverev said after Friday’s victory. “Last year I played it three times, and they were all long and difficult games. Today I decided I would hit the ball a little harder.”
Zverev, 23, will face No. 23 seed Dusan Lajovic, who defeated Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.
In other men’s matches, No. 18 leader Dimitrov advanced to the fourth round when Pablo Carreno Busta retired due to injury in the second set. Dimitrov led 6-0, 1-0 when Carreno Busta retired.
The Canadian men went two-for-three in their third-round matches. The third only lost because he played a Canadian teammate.
Auger-Aliassime defeated Denis Shapovalov’s No. 11 in the Canadian match at Margaret Court Arena by 7-5, 7-5, 6-3.
Shapovalov had won his previous two Grand Slam matches at the US Open in 2018 and 2019. Auger-Aliassime says he “hit me pretty badly a couple of times.”
Auger-Aliassime also reached the fourth round of last year’s US Open. He then plays the Russian classifier Aslan Karatsev.
Veteran Canadian Raonic advanced to the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the eighth time by beating Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Raonic’s best performance, ranked 14th, at the Australian Open reached the semi-finals in 2016.
Associated Press information contributed to this report.