Australian Open 2022 - Life is short, enjoy every glorious minute of Nick Kyrgios on court, he's a rare treat

The highest level of professional sport is a result of the combination of natural talent and an unrelenting work ethic.

Those at the very top of their field often have both of these factors in spades, it's what separates them from the rest of us. The talent that flows through their veins, combined with the almost robotic focus is what elevates them to pantheons that are remembered throughout the ages.

But sometimes it can have a negative effect too. Sometimes it can leave a slightly cold image of an athlete, a lack of personality, with winning the entire focus above all else.

Every once in a while we get the unicorn. That player who combines a prodigious talent with a penchant for entertaining. Think Alex Higgins or Ronaldinho, the type of individuals who when you watch them at their best just bring a smile to your mouth and sometimes a full-throated laugh.

Tennis is fortunate to have one such character: Australian “bad-boy” Nick Kyrgios.

And on Tuesday evening in Melbourne against Great Britain's Liam Broady, he was at his very best.

Kyrgios started with something new, something to whet the appetite. An underarm-tweener serve, have you ever heard of such a thing? Most of us would hold off trying that at our local court for fear of some gruesome injury, let alone trying it in the first round of our home Grand Slam.

And the smile that Kyrgios gave afterwards let you know. Oh yes, this was going to be a night, the great entertainer was on, and he was in the mood.

Like a swashbuckling Hugh Jackman, Kyrgios proceeded to thrill a global audience with the audacity of some of the shots he played.

The height of his genius might have come in the second game of the second set where, during a rally, Kyrgios suddenly produced a tweener and then, when Broady had the audacity to return it, he casually smashed a forehand winner down the line with a hop, skip and a jump. The power and placement of the winner was a remarkable shot, the way his body moved whilst playing the shot was something else entirely.

The Kyrgios bravado was there in full effect as well. From the very off when he turned to the crowd and shouted “let’s f****** go” and stood there arms held out wide, as if to say “are you not entertained?” Even at the end following his post-match interview he couldn’t resist having a morsel of a fan’s beer that some may go as far to describe as “cheeky”. And even that couldn’t have been drunk without a knowing smile exactly down the line of the camera.

And after being greeted by non-stop choruses of “Siuuu” – mimicking the infamous Cristiano Ronaldo celebration – throughout the match he couldn’t resist assuming the pose himself at the end of the match.

But there were other, more human moments as well. He was quick to check on a ball boy after accidentally hitting him with a serve. And between points at one stage he asked the umpire to try and quieten the crowd a little on his opponent’s serve because he felt it was unfair on Broady and seemed to feel guilty as in his own words: “I know I kinda created this s***show.”

Not that Broady seemed to mind too much. At one stage before his serve a member of the crowd called for him to produce an underarm serve of his own. Broady smiled and then quickly feigned to do it before stopping and grinning at Kyrgios before the pair both descended into fits of giggles.

And that’s the real lesson to take away from watching Kyrgios play. At no stage does he ever claim to be perfect. If you want a winning machine go look elsewhere, lord knows the men’s tour has had plenty of them over the year. And is it frustrating we’ve never seen him compete consistently for Grand Slams? Yes of course.

But in a sport and in a world that fetishises perfection above all else isn’t it nice to sit back and bask in glorious imperfection? Kyrgios is a supremely talented athlete, one of the most talented in the sport, but he is also a deeply flawed individual and that is what makes him so relatable to so many. He’s that player who rocks up to your five-a-side on a Tuesday night and tells you that they were in academy and could have gone pro but didn’t have the discipline. And you scoff and joke but then you see them on the pitch. And they do things that make your jaw drop, things you are telling people about for weeks after.

Because sport is about joy. It’s about the escapism of the real word. It’s about picking up a ball, racket, cue, set of skis or whatever you want and just going out there and having fun. Sport is entertainment. Nick Kyrgios is entertainment. Sit back and enjoy, because this is The Greatest Show.

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