Tomas Berdych ends home favourite Nick Kyrgios’ Australian Open hopes

In the fourth set at break point down, someone in the crowd on Rod Laver Arena calls for ace from Kyrgios – he duly obliges Kyrgios is not shy in talking to people in the crowd, no wonder they feed on his energyHe gets you talking Not everyone is a fan of Kyrgios’ antics Is Nick Kyrgios fulfilling his potential? Berdych’s post-match take on the situation was one of bemusement.

Berdych is now ranked as the sixth best player in the world and will be viewing this tournament as a ideal chance to leap ahead of Rafael Nadal in the rankings after the Spaniard’s first round exit. Those games would finish one a-piece, setting us up for a thrilling decider here on one of the grandest stages of the year.

“Quentin is new on the tour but definitely today he hasn’t been playing like he’s been just on the tour for under a year”, said Djokovic after his young opponent took the match to a tie break in the third set.

“Can you not hear that?” an agitated Kyrgios asked.

While Berdych was a model of focus and concentration, ignoring everything that was happening on the other side of the net, Kyrgios seemed nearly permanently distracted.

The Australian felt if he had claimed the fourth set he could have won, although he did praise Berdych for his performance.

“He didn’t tell the crowd to quieten down if it was coming from the crowd, which I think is a fair thing to do if you’re in the chair”.

Kyrgios comes into the match on the back of wins against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas. Berdych has not lost before the quarterfinal stages here in Melbourne since 2010, but there was still work to be done in order to keep that run going. He plays with his own pace on his service games.

All in all a frustrating evening for Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios made the first move as he reached 30-30 on the Czech’s serve, but the sixth seed duly responded with a stunning running forehand down the line to make it 3-2.

He returned to the court as a different player, smashing 50 winners as he broke the Uruguayan’s serve four times.

That little irritation from a member in the crowd went some way to derailing Kyrgios’s 2016 Australian Open men’s singles campaign.

Game, set and match Berdych 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, a very professional performance from the Czech.

Berdych next plays Spain’s No. 24 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who upset No. 12 seed and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic from Croatia 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 7-5.