Tennis

Nick Kyrgios rallies at Australian Open to beat Ugo Humbert in ‘craziest match’ and tee up Dominic Thiem clash

Nick Kyrgios will face Dominic Thiem in the third round at the Australian Open after a fiery comeback victory over Ugo Humbert.

Nick Kyrgios rallies at Australian Open to beat Ugo Humbert in ‘craziest match’ and tee up Dominic Thiem clash
Nick Kyrgios rallies at Australian Open to beat Ugo Humbert in ‘craziest match’ and tee up Dominic Thiem clashIt was the Nick Kyrgios show at the Australian OpenGetty Images

Nick Kyrgios will face Dominic Thiem in the third round at the Australian Open after a fiery comeback victory over Ugo Humbert.

The outspoken home favourite dropped the opening set 5-7 against his French opponent in a typically eventful late-night clash at the John Cain Arena in Melbourne, after which he smashed his racket in frustration.

Kyrgios also ranted at the umpire, received a point penalty for his behaviour and lost his cool with his own team during the course of a match that lasted almost three and a half hours.

Kyrgios recovered his composure to take the second set 6-4, but he then found himself behind as world no34 Humbert battled back to take the third 6-3.

The Australian did not give up, however, saving two match points before going on to comfortably win the fourth-set tiebreak.

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He eventually took the final set 6-4 to wrap up an exhausting five-set victory.

Kyrgios will now face Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion who was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the final in Melbourne last year.

"I don't how I did that, honestly, that is one of the craziest matches I've ever played," Kyrgios said after beating Humbert.

"It was a strange match, if you guys were inside my head, there were some dark thoughts in there.

"It's my career, I live to fight another day and hopefully I can continue to play tennis in front of you guys."