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'Never seen that': Tennis world in shock over 'outrageous' Kyrgios act

Seen on the left, Nick Kyrgios performs an underarm serve between his legs at the Australian Open.
Nick Kyrgios left viewers gobsmacked with a wild moment in his first round match at the Australian Open. Pic: Ch9/Getty

Nick Kyrgios announced his return to tennis in typically outrageous style during his first round match at the Australian Open on Tuesday night.

The flamboyant Aussie - who was forced to isolate before the tournament after contracting Covid-19 - wasted no time reminding viewers what they'd been missing.

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Taking on British qualifier Liam Broady on his beloved John Cain Arena, the tennis firebrand left commentators and fans in disbelief after a wild start to his opening match.

Kyrgios showed no signs of rust after grabbing an early break against the Briton.

However, it was his opening service game that had the whole tennis world talking.

Kyrgios was on fire with his big first serve and the World No.115's confidence was clearly sky high after he sent down a booming 220km/h ace.

That was merely a precursor of what was to come.

The Aussie decided to follow up his ace with an underarm serve between his legs - incredibly winning the point to go 2-0 up in a moment that left viewers gobsmacked.

“Nick just verbalising - ‘I’m back’”, Jim Courier said in commentary for Channel Nine.

Kyrgios let out a booming roar and pointed to the court as if to remind his opponent that it was the Aussie's domain.

Unsurprisingly, the extraordinary incident left viewers in a frenzy on social media.

Much to the delight of the home crowd, Kyrgios took the first two sets 6-4, in a brilliant start to his Open campaign.

The 26-year-old was hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Maddison Inglis and Sam Stosur, who provided two of the major highlights for local fans on Tuesday.

Inglis, Stosur through on mixed day for Aussies

Inglis capped a wild day for the local wildcards by sending US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez packing in a major first-round upset.

Inglis, a 24-year-old from Perth, needed just 82 minutes on Tuesday to wrap up the 6-4 6-2 victory over No.23 seed Fernandez, who made it all the way to the unlikeliest of title deciders at Flushing Meadows last year against British qualifier Emma Radacanu.

"I had thought about that moment for a long time," said Inglis, who made her grand slam debut as a teenager at Melbourne Park back in 2016.

"It was just pure happiness when I saw the ball go out.

"It was an amazing moment.

"I'm really so happy I could have it happen here in Melbourne with all my friends and family there."

Pictured here, Australia's Maddison Inglis celebrates after victory against Canada's Leylah Fernandez at the Australian Open.
Australia's Maddison Inglis celebrates after victory against Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the first round of the Australian Open. Pic: Getty (MICHAEL ERREY via Getty Images)

Inglis was joined in the second round by one of her childhood idols Samantha Stosur, who fully justified the decision to award her a wildcard for her record 20th and final Australian Open at the age of 37 by ousting American Robin Anderson 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3.

It was only Stosur's second victory in her past seven visits to Melbourne Park, a venue where she has never progressed beyond the fourth round.

"That was incredible," said the Queenslander, who is now ranked 487th in the world.

"That's a match I'm gonna remember forever."

Fellow wildcard Chris O'Connell advanced to round two for a second successive year by downing Frenchman Hugo Gaston in four sets.

The 27-year-old Sydneysider won 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 4-6 6-1 to set up a clash on Thursday with Argentinian No.13 seed Diego Schwartzman.

The late-blooming O'Connell had a rollercoaster 2021, mixing some good results with an ankle injury, osteitis pubis and a bout of coronavirus.

Aleksandar Vukic also vindicated the decision to hand him a wildcard by beating No.30 seed Lloyd Harris on Monday.

Playing in her first major since last year's Australian Open and having recovered from surgery to the Achilles tendon that had troubled her on and off for five years, Daria Saville lost 6-2 6-3 to Swede Rebecca Peterson.

Jordan Thompson was on the wrong end of a five-set marathon against American Steve Johnson, losing 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (6-8) 4-6 6-3 6-3.

Priscilla Hon bowed out of the women's event with a 6-2 6-3 loss to Czech No.31 seed Marketa Vondrousova, while Astra Sharma succumbed 6-3 6-4 to Dane Clara Tauson.

with AAP

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