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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2016

Nick Kyrgios

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

N. KYRGIOS/P. Carreno Busta

6-2, 7-5, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You must be pleased with the way you opened the tournament.
NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, you know, I knew it was going to be a tough match. There were a lot of nerves, a lot of excitement. I haven't played a real, real match. I played Hopman Cup. Felt confident. Just going out there with the pressure, playing in front of the home crowd. You know, I came out there pretty good. I was striking the ball well from the get-go. That probably eased me into the match a little bit better than I thought it was going to be out there. Yeah, it was a good win.

Q. That second set seemed to be a little bit more of a difficult one. Did you lose a bit of concentration there?
NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, it was a pretty sneaky break for him in the first game. I was up 30-Love. He's more than capable of playing at a high level. So I knew there was going to be some periods in the match where he was going to lift. It was only normal that he would respond from the first set.

It's a best-of-five, a long match out there. I knew I had to stay composed. I knew I was going to get my chances. I obviously broke him twice in the second set.

Q. You play Cuevas next. He's only been to a third round of a slam.
NICK KYRGIOS: I've watched him play. I've always been pretty impressed by him. I think he's a great athlete. He makes a lot of balls, he competes every point. He's more than capable of doing some damage these weeks. I think the Grand Slams, best-of-five suit him. I know what type of tennis I need to play. He's going to go out there, he knows what he needs to do. We're just going to go out there and just compete.

Q. You got a good reaction from the crowd as you always do. How much of an advantage do you find that?
NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, it's a massive advantage for me. I think knowing the home crowd's behind you, when you're feeling physically tired or mentally drained out there, they give you the spark needed.

I thought today, when you're two sets to love up, you're forcing the pressure on the opponent, they see there's not many people in their corner, they really need to dig deep to respond. I thought he struggled a little bit today.

Q. I saw you in the practice session, pulling that young kid out of the crowd. It shows a different side. What prompts you to do something like that.
NICK KYRGIOS: What do you mean, 'different side'?

Q. As in light hearted.
NICK KYRGIOS: I'm pretty lighthearted most of the time. The crowd was really into my session. We were playing some mini tennis. I love going out there and joking around. All the kids were out there watching. I thought one of them might want to play.

Q. Last year you had a fantastic match against Andreas Seppi. Do you love the Hisense Arena?
NICK KYRGIOS: For me last year it became one of my favorite courts. I really like the dimensions of the court. Not too far back, the barriers. I feel it's quite closed in. The way the crowd sits it's really, really good. That's definitely one of my favorite courts.

Q. Omar coming through, what do you make of that?
NICK KYRGIOS: It was refreshing during my match. We've been really tight for a long, long time now. Me and him, I sort of play the big brother a little bit. We used to sleep at each other's house and stuff like that when we were training together.

To see him get a win at the Grand Slam level is pretty special because, you know, we used to wake up early, train together. We used to cause trouble and everything.

To see him actually have success at that level is really, really good to see.

Q. He's been on that level for about 12 months or so. What can a Grand Slam win do in terms of confidence?
NICK KYRGIOS: It's massive. I got a Grand Slam win under my belt really early in my career as well. You think about that a lot, just to know you can pull out a performance like that in front of your home crowd. That's not easy for him. He's been struggling the last couple weeks. For him to pull out a win like that against a tough competitor in the heat shows the resilience he has. I think it shows great potential.

Q. You tweeted about the galoot things again about the AFL players. Is part of that to get fans behind you, see you being fun loving online?
NICK KYRGIOS: Not at all really. I just think, you know, where I get a little bit angry, I get hung out to dry a little bit, so I think that behavior's not really tolerated.

Q. You chose two exhibition tournaments as your lead-in into this tournament here. Do you feel that's your best preparation?
NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I think for me I like to come into Grand Slams really fresh. I don't really like to play too many tournaments. I think the Hopman Cup is a perfect event for me. You can sort of manage your matches a little bit.

The arena there is perfect speed. I think I played some great tennis there. Obviously Kooyong is a great event. Had a little bit of a niggle there, so it was a bit unfortunate. I thought my preparation was perfect this year.

Q. Do you support Perth Wildcats? Because they played the same venue.
NICK KYRGIOS: I don't support them. But I have seen them play there a couple times. I don't watch NBL too much. I'm a massive basketball fan. When that's on on TV, I'm looking for NBA originally, but if I see some NBL, I'll watch it.

Q. How do you think Omar will handle the occasion against Tsonga or Baghdatis?
NICK KYRGIOS: I think he'll be fine. He's got absolutely nothing to lose out there. To play Marcos, he always plays well here. They've both made finals here, Tsonga and Baghdatis. I think Omar goes out there and just enjoys himself, enjoys the experience. He can play on Hisense or even Rod Laver. For him it's a massive experience, learning curve. I think he's more than capable of causing an upset, as well.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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