Australian Open: Nick Kyrgios is up to his old tricks as he serves underarm BETWEEN HIS LEGS

Nick Kyrgios wasted no time going back to his bag of tricks as he got his Australian Open campaign underway on Tuesday.

The Australian was back to his entertaining best as he was showboating inside the first five minutes of his first-round match with Britain’s Liam Broady, going on to take a straight sets victory.

He was then in jovial spirit after the match as he copied Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘Siu’ celebration and swigged beer from a fan’s cup. 

The 26-year-old had been a serious doubt to feature at Melbourne Park at all after testing positive for Covid-19 just over a week ago, but was back in time for his match with Broady. 

After walking out to a big ovation he got off to a flying start and shouted ‘I’m back’ following his first winning game.

He then started showboating as he unleashed a 220km/h serve and then looked like he was about to unleash another to seal the second game of the first set.

Instead he pulled off an audacious underarm serve between his legs which caught his British opponent off guard.

Broady was forced to improvise a one-handed backhand poke in response which went out of play to tie up the second game for Kyrgios. 

Kyrgios held his arms out and shrugged at the audacity of his showboating, as the Australian crowd roared following his trick shot.

Barry Cowan on commentary for Eurosport reacted: ‘It’s a circus already.

‘He is owning this court, and he has only been on the court for five minutes, through the legs.’

The mercurial Australian is well known for his trickshots and the tweener underarm between the legs serve was something he first produced at the Atlanta Open last year. 

After testing positive for Covid over a week ago, Kyrgios was forced to isolate during that time and only flew down to Melbourne with his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi on Sunday.

Despite his lack of preparation he got off to a flyer against Broady advancing to the second round in straight sets (6-4, 6-4, 6-3).’

‘I served f***ing well today,’ Kyrgios said in his on-court interview after the match. ‘I don’t know what I’ve done to this crowd because you guys are a zoo now.

‘I’m just happy to be here again. Obviously we’ve all had a tough couple of years so just to be back at the Australian Open again — I’m just happy to be back here in front of you guys. Honestly, it’s so much fun.’

The 26-year-old copied Ronaldo’s celebration and had time for a drink taking a swig from a fan’s drink.  

Back in September, Kyrgios dropped a hint about retiring from tennis as he said at the time: ‘I need to go back home. I’ve been travelling for four and a half months now. My mum is not doing too well with her health. I’d like to go back and see her.

‘I’m not one of those players that’s going to go hunting for points or hunting for accolades. I feel like I’ve got nothing left to prove to myself. I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved.

‘Obviously, I’ll get my body right and I’ll start my pre-season, spend time with my family for the Australian Open, and then go from there.’

Watch the Australian Open exclusively live on discovery+, Eurosport and Eurosport app.