Even an early exit from the Australian Open wasn't enough to turn Liam Broady against first-round foe Nick Kyrgios despite his mid-match antics, although the Brit admitted his opponent made him feel 'stupid' en route to defeat.
Kyrgios cruised into the second stage of the competition on Tuesday and will face second seed Daniil Medvedev after demolishing Broady 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
The Canberra native has a penchant for flair and turned on the theatrics with a between-the-legs serve during his opening service game.
Not to be confined to the boundaries of the match, he later entertained the crowd by imitating Cristiano Ronaldo 's trademark 'Siu' celebration and accepted a swig from a spectator's pint.
"Everyone was telling me: 'Oh you'll really enjoy it. It's going to be amazing'. But I thought it was absolutely awful," said Broady of his experience at the John Cain Arena. "The atmosphere was incredible but it was the first time I've ever walked onto a tennis court and been booed which for me was a crazy experience. You get sledged from the sides like you can't believe that they don't pick up on TV."
Broady, 28, has participated in qualifying for the Australian Open on four previous occasions, but this was the first time he's managed to book his spot in the official draw.
That build-up of anticipation was swiftly stubbed out by his straight-sets defeat to Kyrgios, whom he admitted made him feel outclassed at times.
"I know what Nick's like and I saw a few of the guys in the lockers before and they said: 'Are you ready for the disrespect out there?'
"Because sometimes he makes you feel stupid with the shots he hits, with the underarm serves through the legs and the little lobs and the dinks and then the big hits, and sometimes you feel like a bit of a club player out there. That's what he does.
"I don't think it's personal. If I felt like it was personal and it was malicious, then I would probably feel like he crossed the line, but our job is to entertain the people and for them to enjoy the tennis that they come to watch and he does that and full respect to him.
"That's what tennis is about. I am all for it, to be honest, even when it's against me."
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The nature of his departure may be even harder to take considering Kyrgios was not long ago a doubt to feature in Melbourne, having only recently tested positive for Covid-19.
The 26-year-old once sat 13th in the world rankings but has fallen 100 places since then, with Tuesday's triumph over Broady representing his first win since July 2021.
And Kyrgios revelled in his comeback performance in front of a home crowd, offering himself a hearty pat on the back in his post-match comments.
"I served f*****g well today," he said after his first-round victory. "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 joy was evident throughout Kyrgios' contribution, but he had the performance to back up his antics and recorded an impressive haul of 21 aces.
Despite his post-match malaise, Broady also appeared to enjoy parts of the fixture and laughed alongside Kyrgios after a member of the audience urged the former to try his own underarm serve.
It's doubtful as to whether the scoreline would have been impacted even if he heeded that advice, with the home support seemingly playing its part to help Kyrgios on this occasion.
The Australian Open is currently permitting large audiences but will soon see crowds cut capped at 50 per cent of the maximum capacity due to the spread of the Omicron variant.
Those sessions that were already sold out at the time of the rule change will be allowed to proceed at capacity, but foreign contenders may soon be thankful to see fewer home fans in attendance.
