Australian Open: Andy Murray, Nick Kyrgios & Liam Broady on John Cain Arena

Nick Kyrgios mimicked Cristiano Ronaldo's goal celebration after beating Liam Broady in his first-round match

What's it like walking out to face Nick Kyrgios on his favourite court at the Australian Open?

"Absolutely awful" is how Britain's Liam Broady describes it.

Broady lost his first-round match 6-4 6-4 6-3 to home favourite Kyrgios on the rowdy John Cain Arena.

Kyrgios has often described the venue - which is nicknamed 'the people's court' - as his favourite to play on because of the atmosphere.

"It's the first time I have ever walked on to a tennis court and been booed," Broady said.

"You get sledged from the sides - you can't believe that they don't pick it up on TV."

The John Cain Arena is open to ground pass holders, meaning anyone at Melbourne Park can watch the match, although crowds are capped at 50% this year because of coronavirus.

It makes for a busy court full of noise, colour and flags - and the odd beer here and there.

Broady joked that none of the sledging he had received from the crowd was repeatable in his post-match news conference.

"Everyone is telling me 'oh, you'll really enjoy it. It's going to be amazing'," he said.

"But I thought it was absolutely awful. I obviously wanted to go out there and win, so losing matches in general isn't enjoyable.

"As tennis players we're entertainers, and as long as the crowd are enjoying it I think we're doing our job."

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Before Kyrgios took to the stage, Andy Murray made his return to the court where, in 2019, he thought he might have played his last match.

During his engrossing four-hour match with Nikoloz Basilashvili, Murray thought he was being booed by some of the crowd and called them out in his post-match interview by saying: "That's painful stuff, there. Those guys..."

However, he realised afterwards they were shouting "siuuu", which means yes in Spanish. It is part of Cristiano Ronaldo's celebration after scoring a goal for Portugal and Manchester United.

"Initially, I thought it was booing because there were some people booing during my practice yesterday," Murray said.

"But then after a few times it was like, 'No, they're doing that, I think it's like 'siuu' or something that Ronaldo does when he scores.

"And, yeah, it was incredibly irritating," he said, smiling.

Kyrgios was annoyed at one point by the crowd noise but showed all of his incredible shot-making, including underarm serves and a through-the-legs shot.

He mimicked Ronaldo's celebration after securing victory and then described the atmosphere as "a zoo out there".

"They were doing some Ronaldo thing and I thought they were going to do it for like 10 minutes," he said.

"They did it for two-and-a-half hours, like every point. I don't know why."

Broady praised Kyrgios for using the crowd's energy to power him through the match.

"I think if you told Nick to stop all of that showmanship and stuff he does it would take away a big strength of his game," he said.

"I am all for it, to be honest, even when it's against me.

"The way he orchestrates the crowd - you see videos on TV, but it doesn't do it justice when you're playing in front of an Aussie crowd on Nick Kyrgios' home court.

"It was pretty crazy out there. But glad to have got it out of the way."

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