If you took your seat at Hisense Arena hoping for some extracurricular fireworks from Australian young gun Nick Kyrgios, you would have felt a tad disappointed on night one of the 2016 Australian Open.
A calmer, more measured Kyrgios let his racquet do the talking in a confident straight sets 6-2 7-5 6-2 win over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.
Busta, ranked 68th in the world, 38 spots behind Kyrgios, offered little by way of a contest, which is perhaps a reason behind Kyrgios’ cooler-than-usual approach in warm conditions.
“I was striking the ball well from the get-go,” Kyrgios said. “That probably eased me into the match a little bit better.”
Kyrgios said his preparation for the Open was perfect.
He avoided more cut-throat tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney instead playing at the Hopman Cup in Perth and the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne.
“I think, for me, I like to come into Grand Slams really fresh,” he said. “I don’t really like to play too many tournaments. I think the Hopman Cup is a perfect event for me. You can sort of manage your matches a little bit.”
From the outset, Kyrgios was in control of his temperament and his game.
He dictated terms to his opponent on the back of his main weapon, that blistering serve.
At one stage, he reached 222km/h on the radar gun, drawing the oohs of the crowd.
But it was not all power for Kyrgios, his finesse on the serve and volley earned easy points, while defensively, he made Busta work, tracking down tough balls by using his reach and athleticism.
Kyrgios breezed through the first set, breaking twice.
The second set was much tougher with Busta breaking his serve for the one and only time in the match in the first game, forcing Kyrgios to come from behind the secure the set.
“It was a pretty sneaky break for him in the first game,” Kyrgios said. “I was up 30-0. He’s more than capable of playing at a high level, so I knew there were going to be some periods in the match where he was going to lift. It’s a best-of-five, a long match out there.
“I knew I had to stay composed, I knew I was going to get my chances. I obviously broke him twice in the second set.”
It was plain sailing for Kyrgios from that point on.
Two more breaks of serve in the third set and he would have the match wrapped up in a tick over 90 minutes, setting up a second round bout with Argentina’s Pablo Cuevas.
Australia top women’s singles hope Sam Stosur bowed out on night one after a shock 6-4 7-6 defeat to Czech Republic qualifier Kristyna Pliskova.
The first Aussie through to the second round earlier in the day was Daria Gavrilova, who toppled Czech Lucie Hradecka 7-6 6-4.
Australian wildcard Omar Jasika had a hard fought 6-4 3-6 6-0 6-4 win over Ukraine’s Ilya Marchenko.
The other Aussie toppled was Ajla Tomljanovic, who went down 7-6 6-3.
