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Anyone familiar with Nick Kyrgios’s sledging incident in 2015 knows that the 20-year-old can be as, well, abrasive as he is gifted.

But did you know that Kyrgios can also be cute? Check out how the Aussie finishes off a point against Pablo Cuevas during second-round action on Hisense Arena. That was quite the love tap from Kyrgios.

Kyrgios won the match, 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(2), behind a 19-ace, 50-winner barrage.

Clearly the young Aussie has a thing for showmanship, but don’t let that blind you from appreciating his awe-inspiring brand of athleticism. Rarely in tennis do we see players that possess Kyrgios’ arresting combination of power and touch. He powered through one of the tour’s toughest grinders with relative ease on Day 3, setting up a highly anticipated showdown with No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych on Friday.

The Czech has reached back-to-back semifinals in Melbourne and owns 36 career wins at the Australian Open.

Berdych has quite the reputation with Aussie fans already. He was booed loudly after a controversial win over Nicolas Almagro in 2012 after he refused to shake hands with the Spaniard after the match.



If Aussie fans have the type of memories we suspect they do, they’ll be ready to get under Berdych’s skin on Friday.

Kyrgios, on the other hand, is just concerned about the present. Berdych has always done well in Melbourne, and last year he upset Rafael Nadal en route to the semis.

"I know what he's capable of. He's one of the best players in the world," Kyrgios said. "He's going to be wanting to win as much as I'm going to be wanting to win, so it's going to be tough."

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