When Nick Kyrgios was 12 years old, he attended every Jo-Wilfried Tsonga practice session at the 2008 Australian Open, witnessing the Frenchman make it all the way to the final.
Kyrgios, who is now just two spots lower than Tsonga in the world rankings, got his heroās autograph after each practice at Melbourne Park.
On Friday, Kyrgios takes on Tsonga in the Australian Open third round, a decade on from his days as a young fan chasing signatures.
āItās going to be fun,ā said Kyrgios, who lost his only previous meeting with Tsonga ā a tight three-setter in the Marseille semi-finals 11 months ago.
āWe played last year in Marseille. He beat me in a three-set battle. It was a lot of fun. Obviously a guy I looked up to growing up.
āIāve seen him play a lot. I know what heās going to bring. He knows what Iām going to bring. Itās going to be a lot of fun.ā
Kyrgios reflects fondly on that 2008 tournament which remains Tsongaās sole appearance in a Grand Slam final.
āIt was just the way he played his game. I liked his aggressive style of tennis. He had a big serve, big forehand. He played an entertaining style tennis,ā he said of Tsonga.
āWhen I was 12, I went to all his practice sessions. He made the final in 2008. I think I was 12. I went to all his practice sessions with a new ball. He signed it every day. I donāt know if he remembers. I didnāt miss one of his practice sessions, soā¦ā
Kyrgios isnāt just 10 years older now; so far at the Australian Open, he has shown composure when he needed it, as he overcame an attention-seeking disruptive fan, an inoperative court microphone and a helicopter hovering persistently over the chaotic Hisense Arena to post a 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Serbiaās Viktor Troicki.
The 22-year-old Aussie began his season by clinching the title in Brisbane and now extended his winning streak to seven matches and zero losses in 2018.
He loves the energy of Hisense Arena ā dubbed the āPeopleās Courtā ā and is known to feed off the crowd. But on Wednesday, the distractions were working against him yet he chose to conserve his energy instead of giving in to the hype.
āI know I have to conserve my energy from the start in best-of-five matches. Just so many ups and downs, itās draining. You want to just conserve as much energy as you can,ā said Kyrgios.
āIt was tough. I told the umpire to maybe just not use a microphone anymore because the crowd just found it so amusing. I mean, I was just like, āDude, just stop doing it. Itās going to create more of a circusā. He stopped doing it.
āObviously it was tough. It felt like I was playing at another tournament. I didnāt hear the microphone, no music at change of ends. It was a strange atmosphere.ā
Despite some complaints to the umpire, Kyrgios relatively kept his cool and walked off court a winner in straight sets.
The usually temperamental Kyrgios, who was slapped with a $3,000 fine for using colorful language during his opening round match, admits heās showing signs of maturity.
āI think last year, the year before, I probably would have been probably still out on the court right now, could be losing that match,ā he said in his post-match press conference.
In Tsongaās second round, experience prevailed over youth as the French world No. 15 came back from 2-5 down in the fifth set to outlast Canadian tennis Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 in a three-hour 37-minute tug of war.
Playing just the second five-set match of his career, Shapovalov, 18, couldnāt seal the deal but still earned the praise of the legendary Rod Laver, who tweeted after the match:
The left-handed Next Gen star, who sports an attacking one-handed backhand, won the ATP Star of Tomorrow and Most Improved Player awards in 2017, earned the respect of Tsonga, who said after the match: āI think he deserved to win also today, but I was also courageous and I did my job at the end. I played well. I think I deserve it, too.ā
Kyrgios has long expressed his admiration for the 50th-ranked Shapovalov and tips him for great things in the future.
āI think Denis is going to be one of the stars of the game,ā said Kyrgios, who was Shapovalovās team-mate on Team World at the inaugural Laver Cup last September. āHeās showing signs. Obviously itās not easy to be in that position in the first place. Heāll learn from it. Iām sure heāll start closing out matches like that soon enough.ā
Tsonga, a 32-year-old who became a father last year, knows what to expect from his showdown with Kyrgios. He is a decade older than his opponent but is not daunted by the task at hand.
āLike today. Heās got the fire in the arms,ā said Tsonga.
āIām very excited about it. Itās good to play against those guys. They are, for sure, the present, but also the future of tennis. Yeah, I played so many guys when I was young like them. I remember I played Tim Henman in US Open. I played Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, so many guys like this, of different generation. So itās always good to play against them and compare our tennis to their tennis.ā