Watch: Bernard Tomic's bizarre underarm serve on match point to defeat Nick Kyrgios
The Kooyong Classic, the exhibition tournament prior to the Australian Open, took place today at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne.
To the delight of the home fans, Australia's Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic took on each other in their first ever meeting on a tennis court. It did not come as a surprise when controversy erupted in the match - right on the very last point.
Tomic, who is currently ranked 85 in the world, was the better player throughout the match. He broke the world No. 51 Kyrgios in the fourth game of the first set to win it 6-3. He then broke in the seventh game of the second set to give himself the advantage.
While serving for the match at 5-4, Tomic dropped a ball and hit it between his legs while he was bouncing another ball. The crowd, the umpire, and Kyrgios himself were perplexed and it was only after a few moments that the umpire awarded the match to Tomic.
Kyrgios did not seem rattled by the point and laughed it off.
“I don’t think there has ever been a player like BT,” Kyrgios said after the match.
“It is great to see him back out here as I know he was going through some rough times. He won a title last year and it looks like he is carrying a bit of momentum which is good to see.”
“We could make deep runs at the Australian Open, but we’ve also got Alex de Minaur and John Millman. We’ve got so many players. It’s an exciting time for Australian tennis,” he continued.
In the other men's match of the day, Croatia's Marin Cilic, who is returning from injury, defeated South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-3, 4-6, [15-13].
The Australian Open will begin on January 14.