"Some of the craziest energy I've had": Nick Kyrgios and Leylah Fernandez move on in Australian Open mixed doubles dream team tandem

Fans were certainly given their money's worth on the ANZ Arena on Friday night as Nick Kyrgios took to the court again to a packed house ready for another episode of the showman show as he teamed up with another well known name in Leylah Fernandez for Mixed Doubles at the Australian Open.

The pair survived three match points as they took down two doubles specialists in Desirae Krawczyk who was teaming with Neal Skupski but despite the dream tandem of sorts in doubles circles, it was the dream singles pairing that won the war in what was a thrilling tie-break.

Kyrgios and Fernandez prevailed 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 12-10 over the pairing. Kyrgios himself was too banged up to compete in singles and was also defeated alongside Kokkinakis in men's doubles the previous nights. Albeit despite having bandages on both of his knees, it was full show mode.

He seemed to love the crowd feeding off his energy and also having a player like Fernandez on court with him who can certainly bring out the flair on her day too and given that she is a lot younger than Kyrgios both energy as a person but also on court in returning.

Two Grand Slam singles finalists together and their dream will continue. They will face either Olivia Nicholls and Henry Patten or Anna Danilina and JJ Tracy in the second round.

"That was some of the most craziest energy that I've had," Kyrgios said afterwards. I've obviously played some amazing matches at the AO but that's got to be one of my favourite ones.

"(We were) 9-6 down, 7-3. Realistically, tennis players don't always believe you can come back. But I was like, 'If we just went one at a time, maybe we can do it.'

"The crowd were amazing all day. They stayed, they hung around and it was amazing. I'm really excited for our next round."

While Fernandez herself credited Kyrgios for bringing the positive energy and also the crowd to the court and they now move on likely with an even larger contingent trying to get into the match to see the dynamic duo.

"I felt like Nick was the most positive guy there," Fernandez said. "It was so cool, it was just a lot of fun. Nick brought the great energy and also the crowd."

Kyrgios is only played men's and mixed doubles this year at the Australian Open alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis and now Leylah Fernandez. The former known as Special K's have previously scooped the title and while both are very much not at their peak anymore in regards to their form after being injured and the fact that neither have played singles this time round, they still drag crowds.

Add in the mixed doubles equation someone like Fernandez who is also super popular and you get a bit of a dream team and one that can go far. Albeit this also derailed Desirae Krawczyk's bid for a career grand slam in Mixed Doubles. The 32-year-old who will also be a familiar face and voice to those who watch The Player's Box which features the doubles specialist alongside Pegula, Keys and Brady won't be adding to her title tally this year. She won each of the other titles in 2021 and then added Wimbledon the year after.