On Tennis
By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer has packed up the family, the nannies and his hopes for this year’s Australian Open and flown off to Zurich or Dubai or wherever Federers fly off to this time of year.
Novak Djokovic had the day off. Rafael Nadal played in the heat of the afternoon and made quick work of Kevin Anderson.
So the night session on Sunday was left to other, less decorated men and frankly, if this is the future, sign me up.
This was a two-ring tennis circus.
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He should not have been surprised. Murray is both a student and a fan of the game and has been following Kyrgios’s progress, even tweeting updates and compliments.
But Murray, after a frustrating season by his standards in 2014, also looks lean and particularly hungry again. He needed most of his tricks to wriggle free of Dimitrov, a spectacular Bulgarian shotmaker who has clearly improved physically but remains just a bit brittle mentally.
Murray already knows he can beat Kyrgios. He routed him, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round in Toronto on a hardcourt last year, and with his remarkable defensive skills and ability to absorb pace and reboot rallies, he could very well rout the youngster again in Melbourne.
But whatever the score line and whatever the court on Tuesday, Australia now has a next-generation player who demands your attention. You might like him. You might not. But once you get a look, it’s hard to tear yourself away.
A version of this article appears in print on January 26, 2015, in The International New York Times. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
