Nick Kyrgios serves from tramlines, has handshake snubbed and dances in latest Australian Open wild show

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 19/01/2022 at 10:59 GMT

A day after sending the raucous John Cain Arena supporters into a frenzy with his wild win over Britain's Liam Broady in the first round of the singles, home favourite Nick Kyrgios was back in doubles action at the Australian Open, along with his good friend and compatriot, Thanasi Kokkinakis. It did not take long for the pair to get the fans laughing in their doubles opener.

Nick Kyrgios provided his usual array of entertainment, including serving from the tramlines, having a handshake snubbed and dancing at the Australian Open.

A day after sending the raucous John Cain Arena supporters into a frenzy with his wild win over Britain's Liam Broady in the first round of the singles, the Canberra star was back in doubles action, along with his good friend and compatriot, Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Against Broady, the Australian served up what was described as "a circus" with an absurd but entertaining flurry of showboats, including a memorable underarm-tweener delivery that won him an extraordinary point.

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After that match, he proceeded to imitate Cristiano Ronaldo's iconic celebration before taking a swig of a fan's beer on the side of the court with the crowd having quaffed a large number of alcoholic beverages throughout.

Kyrgios has often spoken of his friendship with Kokkinakis, so it was no surprise to again see the duo double up at Melbourne Park and have plenty of fun while doing so.

It did not take long for the pair to get the fans laughing in their doubles opener as Kokkinakis cheekily snubbed his partner when he sought a pre-match handshake to get the mood going.

Kyrgios saw the funny side, as did the supporters - and it certainly set the tone.

Crowd cheer as Kokkinakis snubs Kyrgios handshake in doubles match

Later, Kyrgios let rip with a dance in celebration of a stunning backhand volley which won him and his partner a point.

Kyrgios dances to celebrate stunning backhand volley in doubles match

Oh, and he also managed to have an exchange with the umpire, of course, which led to all four players laughing.

'I'm not going to go into that!' - Umpire responds to Kyrgios question

Although it almost seemed of secondary importance to the entertainment, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis beat their compatriots, Alex Bolt and James McCabe, in straight sets, 6-4 6-2.

Kyrgios is back in action on Thursday when he takes on Daniil Medvedev in the second round of the singles, with Eurosport expert Mats Wilander having declared that the Russian is the "heavy favourite" to triumph next Sunday.

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"I mean, 52% of his serves went unreturned; can you imagine playing a tennis match like that?" Wilander asked in the Eurosport Cube.

"He's added so much as well. He used to be so defensive and passive and waiting. Now he actually takes the ball early at times.

"I think he is the best player in the world now that Novak is not here. He said Rafa [Nadal], but I think Daniil is the heavy favourite here."

'He's heavy favourite' - Medvedev 'best player in world without Djokovic' says Wilander

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