Nick Kyrgios has found himself in the unusual position of receiving widespread adulation following a gesture at the Australian Open.
The eccentric Kyrgios and partner Thanasi Kokkinakis were midway through the first set of their doubles quarter-final with Tim Puetz of Germany and Michael Venus of New Zealand when the Australian's partner served a fault.
The tennis ball bounced the way of compatriot Kyrgios, who then brazenly hammered it away only to strike a young boy in the crowd.
As the crowd gasped at the Kia Arena, one commentator explained "I think that may have hit someone incredibly hard.
"It was a young fan who’s just copped the full force of that and wasn’t expecting it.
"That’s unfortunate. What’s Kyrgios going to do?"
The Australian answered that question emphatically, pausing the match while he searched for a brand new, and undoubtedly very pricey, racquet from his bag.
He then passed it up into the crowd, instructing it to be delivered to the youngster by way of apology.
Channel 9 Sport presenter Clint Stanaway soon took to Twitter to identify the fan, posting "This is 9-year-old Fin Crane! Thankfully, he’s all ok after getting accidentally cleaned up after errant ball flew into the crowd at the Kyrgios/Kokkinakis match - Kyrgios made sure he goes home with a nice souvenir!"
Tennis fans were also impressed, with @IncrediblyBozza tweeting "What an amazing gesture from Kyrgios," while @JegaNadarajah said "What a nice guy Nick. He is improving in every interaction. He is working on his anger management."
Indeed, in front of his partisan home crowd, Kyrgios was his usual exuberant self as he and Kokkinakis continued their quest for a fairytale Grand Slam win.
Having already knocked out favourites Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, the team dubbed 'The Special K's' prevailed 7-5 3-6 6-4 against the sixth seeds, setting up a semi-final clash with Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentinian Horacio Zeballos on Thursday.
And during their victory, the Canberra man, who had previously never been beyond the third-round of a doubles tournament in a Slam, regularly sought to gee up the audience.
In his post-match interview, the adrenaline was clearly still pumping as Kyrgios shouted "Unreal scenes. I'm not finished, I want to win this f***ing thing.
"Hopefully Craig [Tiley] is watching and keeps us on this court. The rowdier the better. Sink p*ss and come in," he added.
