It might have been a night to forget for Nick Kyrgios, but Nine has taken the ratings win (in the non-news programs) with its day two Australian Open coverage.
Kyrgios’ round one showdown against Brit Jacob Fearnley dominated our screens across the two night sessions, with the first achieving a total TV national reach of 2,514,000 and an average of 933,000 and the second raking in a reach of 2,012,000 and an average of 790,000.
It was labelled as a comeback for the ages; after two years without playing a grand slam, Kyrgios was back and ready to take home the silverware at the 2025 AO. Within the opening sets of his round one match, however, it seemed as though his ambitions might have been set a bit too high.
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Starting the match continually yelling into his coach’s box, while clutching at an abdominal injury, this was not the Nick Kyrgios we have come to know… and, dare I say, love.
Defeating Kyrgios in the first two sets, 7-6 (7-3) and 6-3, Fearnley was ready to call it a day, and Kyrgios, showing no further signs of his usual fire, seemed ready to be put out of his misery. Bringing the third set to a tiebreak, Kyrgios hardly put up a fight, taking only two points to untimely lose the match in straight sets with a final score of 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
Earlier in the night session, Kyrgios’ doubles partner, Thanasi Kokkinakis, kept viewers engaged. In an absolute marathon four-set match that lasted over four hours. Ultimately, the Aussie defeated his opponent, Roman Safiullin, to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win.
