Nick Kyrgios and Dominic Thiem gave the Australian Open crowd a treat with some scintillating tennis in their third-round contest. The theatrics are expected every time Kyrgios plays, along with some nervy and hot-headed moments on the court.

In a crucial stage during the fourth set, Kyrgios lost his serve and then his nerve and was slapped with a point penalty right after being broken in the ninth game of the set.

Kyrgios showed his frustration with some aggressive behavior after losing his serve to give Thiem a chance to close out the fourth set. He was already hanging by a thread with a warning from the chair umpire, and his anger after losing the point landed him the penalty.

Nick Kyrgios pays a heavy price at a crucial stage

Thiem won the break-point with a fantastic forehand as Kyrgios, who approached the net, could do nothing about it. Earlier in the game, Kyrgios attempted a tweener on game point and missed it, thus losing the advantage, which eventually cost him dearly.

Thiem started the 10th game at 15-0, which is a huge mental boost while serving for a set at 5-4. Kyrgios fought, but Thiem held his composure to take the match into a deciding set. More importantly, Thiem had all the momentum after coming back from two sets to love down.

Home hero Kyrgios was in incredible form at the start, winning the first two sets 6-4, 6-4. All the pressure, from Kyrgios and the crowd, was on Thiem.

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However, the reigning US Open champion showed his class. He returned to level things at 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, on Jo

hn Cain Arena.

Kyrgios and Dominic Thiem put on a show in Melbourne

In the first two sets, Kyrgios dominated the match as the world number three, Thiem, had no answer to the Aussie star’s power-packed tennis. The Austrian star then showed why he is a Grand Slam champion, and gradually constructed his comeback.

He broke Kyrgios early in the third set and then held on quite impressively throughout the set. At one point, through the third and fourth sets, Thiem even won 28 consecutive points on his serve.

He showed the champion’s mentality in a match where the crowd attending the Australian Open 2021 tie was completely in favor of Kyrgios.

READ MORE – “You Don’t Understand!”: Nick Kyrgios Yells at Umpire Marijana Veljović in a Drama-Filled Encounter at Australian Open 2021