Nick Kyrgios made history as he and close pal Thanasi Kokkinakis won the Australian Open men's doubles final - but not before the controversial Aussie had a rowdy fan booted out.
The homegrown duo capped a memorable run in Melbourne by beating fellow Australians Matt Ebden and Max Purcell in straight sets (7-5, 6-4) in front of a partisan Rod Laver Arena crowd.
Ebden and Purcell complained to the umpire in the closing stages of the match that a member of the audience was calling out as they were serving.
Shortly afterwards, Kyrgios took matters into his own hands as he identified the individual and pointed to him in the crowd, urging security to have him removed.
The unruly fan was duly kicked out along with two other individuals he was sat alongside.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis became the first all-Aussie duo to win the title since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in 1997.
The 26-year-old dropped his racket as Kokkinakis put away a volley to seal the triumph before the pair chest bumped in celebration.
Kyrgios said: "This week has been a dream come true for me. I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. I'm just super happy. I don't even know how we're doing it or what's going on right now, to be brutally honest
"It's been a rough couple of years, I had covid a week out from the Australian Open but my team and my beautiful girlfriend looked after me."
"Nick, I love you, brother," Kokkinakis added.
"I can honestly say we did not expect to even come close to this but with the help of you guys [crowd] all week, it has been unbelievable."
