Nick Kyrgios has cast friendship aside to cruise into the US Open second round with a straight-sets dispatch of his grand slam-winning doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Kyrgios broke Kokkinakis in each of the first two sets, then clinched the win in a tiebreaker to take bragging rights in the all-Australian affair 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night.
"I thought I played a really good first couple of sets and got on top of the match early," Kyrgios said.
"When we both saw the draw, it was a nightmare, honestly. We never want to play each other and he probably beats 80 per cent of the draw tonight. He has been playing really good.
"I have so much respect for him. I can't wait to get out there and play doubles with him on the right side of the net in a couple of days."
The victory, after Serena Williams' drama-charged triumph in the preceding match, completed a fine opening day for Australia, with Alex de Minaur, Ajla Tomljanovic and Jordan Thompson also advancing.
Kokkinakis, John Millman — in five gruelling sets in scorching heat — and Daria Saville were the only casualties.
Kyrgios, though, was the most impressive of the four winners.
The Wimbledon finalist was untouchable on serve, not offering a single break point all match and barely giving Kokkinakis a look in on his deadly delivery.
But Kyrgios said that's how it needed to be.
"We just know each others' games like the back of our hands. We have played together since we were about nine years old," he said.
"He knows my game well. I know his game extremely well. I just played the bigger points well early on.
"We are going to play each other, hopefully, never again. We will just close that out. I am just happy to move forward."
As well as clearing one big hurdle with success over his great mate, Kyrgios also had two other danger men removed from his section of the draw.
His projected second-round opponent Ugo Humbert, the big-serving southpaw who stretched Kyrgios to five sets in a Wimbledon thriller last year, crashed to a surprise defeat to fellow Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
And if he beats Bonzi on Wednesday, Kyrgios won't be facing 16th seed Roberto Bautista Agut as expected in the third round after the Spaniard slipped up against American wildcard J.J. Wolf.
Bautista Agut thrashed Kyrgios for the loss of only seven games in New York last year but his demise leaves the Canberran with a seed-free path to a possible last-16 showdown with world number one and defending champion Daniil Medvedev.
Kyrgios wasn't looking forward to facing Kokkinakis and, true to his word, there were no histrionics from the combustible talent, just the odd laugh between the pair.
But there were certainly no donations from a focused Kyrgios, aside from perhaps one loose under-arm serve at 40-love up midway through the opening set that Kokkinakis picked off for a winner.
Kyrgios's otherwise clinical win was the 17th from his past 20 outings as the world number 25 bids to crown his best season on tour with a breakthrough grand slam title.
AAP
