Nick Kyrgios wins Australian Open warm-up Brisbane International

Australian Nick Kyrgios signaled a big win a week before the Australian Open starts—and the first time he’s won on home soil—starting off the year in positive fashion after a difficult 2016.

Nick Kyrgios won his first tournament on home turf, defeating American Ryan Harrison in the final at Brisbane, 6-4, 6-2.

With Andy Murray out with a continued hip injury crisis, Djokovic not scheduled to play in Brisbane, and NextGen star Alexander Zverev opting for the team event at the Hopman Cup instead, Kyrgios was one of the biggest names at Brisbane, and he delivered. A mercurial player, coming off a knee injury that hobbled him last year and stalled the terrific momentum he had going with three ATP titles in 2016, the Australian fell off many radars due to his lack of consistency.

The first Australian to win Brisbane in 10 years since Lleyton Hewitt, Kyrgios is certainly turning around a disappointing 2017 with this first win in 2018, his fourth ATP title. And he demonstrated some pretty deft shotmaking — including several gorgeous drop shots — that thrilled the crowd and signaled he was going to make some changes this year.

“I love playing in front of you guys even though sometimes you may not see it that way, but I do,” said Kyrgios after the match.

With such an improved performance, he certainly puts himself in the running for a first Australian Open. Right now, Roger Federer is the favorite, but matches between the two have been terrific bouts — certainly their Miami Open semi last year was one of the best matches from that year. If Kyrgios and Federer make the final, it would be an epic contest for sure, especially with a healthy, mentally strong Kyrgios.

“Right now it’s all about recovery. But I’m playing well under pressure and in pressure situations,” Kyrgios said.

The 22-year-old is still dealing with a knee injury, but seems to have recovered, although he did request a medical time-out during the Brisbane final. (It was denied and he played with it bandaged up.) But with the win and improved movement and gamesmanship, it doesn’t seem like it bothers him too much.

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Another indication of the positive state of Kyrgios’ game was his three-set semi defeat of Grigor Dimitrov — himself coming off his most successful year — coming from behind after losing the first set, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

With the Brisbane title, Nick Kyrgios is one of the contenders for the Australian Open, which starts after next week on January 15.