Love him or hate him, Nick Kyrgios is good for tennis and the sport will get a boost from his return to Grand Slam action at the Australian Open — or so he says. “We watch sport because we want personalities.

Nick Kyrgios returns to the Australian Open and plays Britain’s Jacob Fearnley in his first match at the tournament in three years. The controversial Australian has been sidelined for most of the past two years following knee and wrist surgeries - and claims the sport has been “mundane” in his absence.

Nick Kyrgios has hailed the ‘X factor’ of rising British tennis star Jacob Fearnley ahead of their first-round showdown at the Australian Open. Fearnley, 23, is set to feature in his second Grand Slam main draw having impressively pushed Novak Djokovic to four sets at Wimbledon last year.