Is Nick Kyrgios' upset win over Novak Djokovic an indicator of better things to come?

At the start of this week, right after their first round match in Acapulco on Tuesday, Nick Kyrgios and Dudi Sela got into a fracas after the Australian had a rude on-court altercation with one of Sela’s fans during the match. It became an unwanted distraction, as the solidity of the 21-year-old’s performance came be crouched behind his routine melodramatic boisterousness.

His equally sharp straight sets win over the World No 2 Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals, a few days later, has then rightfully tilted the attention placed on Kyrgios to where it belongs. On his potential and all that he stands to achieve if he lets his racquet do the talking, instead of offering needless verbal ripostes.

What does the Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios Acapulco matchup offer?

Although by no means a marquee match in the traditional sense of the word, Kyrgios’ match with Djokovic was, nonetheless, highly awaited for a couple of key reasons.

Kyrgios’ precedent of winning his opening matches against Rafael Nadal (in the fourth round of the 2014 Wimbledon) and Roger Federer (in the second round of the 2015 Madrid Masters) lent a colourful tonality to his clash against the Serbian, even as it was a throwback to the similar accomplishment of his compatriot and occasional mentor, Lleyton Hewitt.

Moreover, in line with the aspect that Djokovic had been looking refreshed in his initial two rounds – including his second round match against Juan Martin del Potro – it also provided an interesting counter to the supposed premise of him being pipped by his younger rival in the tournament.

Even more significantly, the surety of their face-off meant that Kyrgios had an opportune moment to reconcile the existing perceptions about him, with the adjustments he has been making since hitting a new low, even by his standards of infamy, in the second round of the 2016 Shanghai Masters in October, against Mischa Zverev.

Nick Kyrgios: Tennis’ own Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Beyond the facet of his disinclination to contest that match, in which he made a mockery of everyone – from the sport’s rules to his opponent, and to even his opponent – it was Kyrgios’ unapologetic attitude regarding his behaviour that went against the grain of expected attitudinal discipline from sportspersons.

Following his purposeful defeat, Kyrgios tried to justify his performance by mentioning, “It was just tough. I played a lot of matches in a row. [I was] physically tired [and] mentally tired. [I] just took the easy way out and obviously didn’t show up at all. I wasn’t so much frustrated [and] I just tapped out a little bit, I guess.” But, instead of drawing out understanding from his colleagues – and audiences – it only widened the gap between him and the milieu of tennis professionals around, all of whom who had to go through the same routine, season-after-season.

Kyrgios’ dispirited performance against the German netted him a seven-week ban along with a $25,000 penalty by the Association of Tennis Professionals. While Kyrgios’ agreement to consult a psychologist offset the duration of the ban to three months, as stipulated by the ATP, it also ascertained that the player himself was keen on modulating the terms of the narratives surrounding him.

“I’ve been doing seeing a psychologist and it’s actually been good,” Kyrgios had said during the initial weeks of his enforced side-lining, before adding about the ban itself, “It’s one way to look at it. To get more time off with the people that you love. And, I’ve been training as well. So it’s set me up in good stead for 2017. It just gave me time to think about and analyse everything I’ve got to get better at.”

Will Kyrgios ride the momentum of success for the entirety of the year?

To that end, that Kyrgios played as he did against Djokovic, by dictating the rhythm of the match from start to finish, without giving the top-seed any speck of room to corral him into, has then been a definitive choice on his part. Of ensuring that his performance against the better ranked player – much like in the two previous events he had had played this year – was reflective of his renewed purpose of supplementing his long-touted credentials with a focused showing.

And, such a one-sided outcome coming early in the season – and right on the back of an unexpected defeat in Marseille – it seems to be a harbinger of better, and improved, results from the youngster, not only for the remaining handful of matches at the Mexican Open, but also for the length of the tennis season ahead.