Nick Kyrgios played a dumb, unnecessary between-the-legs trick shot that cost him a shot at Australian Open glory

• Nick Kyrgios cost himself a shot at Australian Open glory with a silly trick shot.
• Winning two sets to one against Dominic Thiem, Kyrgios attempted a through-the-legs shot which failed.
• It gave Thiem a chance to break Kyrgios' serve, and Thiem went on to win the fourth and fifth sets.

Nick Kyrgios was dumped out of the Australian Open by world number three Dominic Thiem in a five-set epic Friday in what commentators described as "the match of the tournament so far."

The three-hour, 20-minute-long battle in the John Cain Arena was characterized by brutally fast serves, lengthy baseline rallies, and a number of deft, skillful dropshots from both men.

But it could have been drastically different for Kyrgios.

Kyrgios dominated the first two sets of the match in scintillating fashion, clinching the second set with an underarm serve, before Austria's Thiem rallied hard to take three consecutive sets to win the match 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

While Thiem mounted a ferocious comeback, Kyrgios arguably cost himself the match with a dumb and totally unnecessary attempt at a trick shot late in the fourth set.

With the set poised at four games all, Kyrgios had Advantage and, had he served out the game, would have gone 5-4 up, giving him the chance to win the match with a break of serve or through a tie-breaker.

However, with a simple shot to win the point and the game, Kyrgios attempted to play a through-the-legs trick shot. The shot failed, with the Australian missing the ball, allowing Thiem to claw the game back to deuce.

From there, Thiem won two consecutive points, breaking Kyrgios' serve and going on to win the set, bringing him back to two sets all.

After winning the fourth, Thiem never looked likely to do anything other than win the match, breaking Kyrgios halfway through the fifth and securing the victory.

Analysts on Eurosport later said of Kyrgios' throwaway trick shot: "He couldn't help himself in the fourth set with that ridiculous shot he tried at game point. That really lost him the set, and maybe the match."

Tennis reporters were quick to note the unnecessary nature of the shot, and how costly it was to Kyrgios.

Prior to Thiem's comeback, Kyrgios was so dominant in the first two sets, and was so stoked up by the crowd, that the Austrian said he had accepted defeat after the first two sets.

"Honestly I was dealing with the loss already," Thiem said in his post-match interview, adding that he took inspiration from his 2020 US Open victory, when he came back from two sets down to beat Germany's Alexander Zverev in five sets.

"Somehow I was fighting in the match, and well, since the US Open I know that impossible is nothing," Thiem said. "With the break in the third set I realised that maybe there was a chance to turn it around."

When asked on the court about the challenge of playing against Kyrgios in front of a home crowd, on a court he previously described as his favorite, Thiem said: "There are easier things to do."

"That was for sure one of the tougher challenges we have in our sport, as you never know what's coming as he's a huge player when he's on fire on a day like today," he added.

Defeat against Thiem brings to an end a turbulent but highly entertaining few weeks of tennis for Kyrgios, who was playing professionally for the first time since last year's Australian Open.

During his return Kyrgios insulted an umpire, smashed a racket and threw it into the stands, and called world number one Novak Djokovic a "strange cat."

Kyrgios said, however, that he was happy with his performance in a post-match conference.

"I took 13 months out of the game. To produce that level and go toe-to-toe with one of the best players in the world, I'm pretty proud."

The match was among the final ones to be played in front of a crowd at this year's Australian Open, as Melbourne goes into a fresh COVID-19 lockdown on Friday after 13 new cases of a variant first seen in the UK were discovered at a quarantine hotel.

"I always prefer playing in from of a crowd, even if they are not for me," Thiem said. "Tonight was epic, and a good last match before the lockdown."

Thiem will play Bulgarian number 18 seed Gregor Dimitrov in the fourth round.