Liam Broady described his experience of playing Nick Kyrgios at the John Cain Arena during the Australian Open first round as ‘absolutely awful.’
The Brit, who was booed as he walked onto the show court, went down 4-6, 4-6, 3-6 to the home favourite.
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And while the Brit said that the hostility he endured was incredible in some respects, it was also the first time he had experienced sledging at a tennis match.
Nick Kyrgios was having too much fun in the first round of the Australian Open 😅
🎾 Underarm tweener serve
🎾 Casually hit a tweener mid-rally
🎾 Hit Cristiano Ronaldo's "Siu" celebration
🎾 Drank a fan's beer after the win pic.twitter.com/nEDpqdnhWW— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 18, 2022
“I mean, everyone is telling me, like, Oh you’ll really enjoy it. It’s going to be amazing. But I thought it was absolutely awful,” said Broady.
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“I obviously wanted to go out there and win, so, I mean, losing matches in general isn’t enjoyable.
“The atmosphere was incredible, but it was the first time I’ve ever walked onto a tennis court and been booed, which for me was a crazy experience.
“You get sledged from the sides like you can’t believe that they don’t pick up on TV.”
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However, Kyrgios enjoys the intimate setting of the court and played to the gallery right from the start. He hollered ‘I’m back,’ after breaking Broady’s serve in the first game of the match.
He hit underarm serves and even produced an underarm-tweener serve at one point.
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The Australian celebrated his win by sipping a fan’s beer and imitating Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal celebration.
The comeback may not last long though as Kyrgios takes on 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in the second round.
