Now we know that the desire is so consuming, we can understand his tantrums and tweet-trums and on-court obnoxiousness for what it is: a tactical approach to winning. It worked for Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, and it generally does work for anyone who is also good enough to beat the other player. The opponent is the real audience for these displays. If it gets up the opponent’s nose, if it puts him off his game, it has succeeded.

So we come back to Kyrgios’s chances in the Australian Open, which must be measured by who, among those up whose noses he inserts himself, he is likely to face.

On this rating, it doesn’t look like a great prospect for him. First, on the opposite side of the draw are several men who Kyrgios really gives the tom-tits. Rafael Nadal won’t say it with his mouth, in public, but everything in his demeanour and between the lines (if he can avoid stepping on them) screams that Nadal believes Kyrgios is a stain on tennis’s backside, a jockstrap stuck annoyingly in an intimate place, and, as Nadal embodies so much of the spirit of the game, a stain on himself. Someday he will slip up and confess that he never liked the punk. Kyrgios knows this and has played it well.

Also on the non-Kyrgios side is Tsitsipas. As Greek-heritage players, Kyrgios and Tsitsipas are about as friendly as the Aegeans and the Spartans. Some time ago, Kyrgios got up Tsitsipas’s nose and now he lives there rent-free.

Medvedev is also on that side. He tonked Kyrgios in Melbourne last year, but that was before Russia’s war. It’s hard to tell where Medvedev’s head is at, but being thankful for small graces, it’s not in Ukraine. He might be vulnerable, he might not, but Kyrgios would not be able to find out either way until the final.

Loading

Meanwhile, who does Kyrgios face? First round is a qualifier, Roman Safiullin, who is also from Russia, so that will give Kyrgios the warm feeling of having his whole country behind him.

The second round is French toast: either Richard Gasquet, who was on tour before Kyrgios was born, or Ugo Humbert, who hasn’t won a ranking-points match since October and has slipped from top 25 to outside the top 100. His last year has been a Kyrgios in reverse. Being an almost-namesake for the pedophile narrator of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, Humbert must also be despised.

From there it gets tough, probably at the time Kyrgios’s legs begin asking him why he didn’t get fitter before this tournament. Denmark’s Holger Rune and another Russian, Andrei Rublev, are top-ten sluggers. Although both can be hot-headed, is Kyrgios truly up their nose? There’s no recent evidence, as he hasn’t been playing. He will have to do his homework to really irritate them by next week, or hope that he gets a repeat of Wimbledon and the good players get knocked out before he meets them.

Quarter-final could be Alex de Minaur or, gulp, Novak Djokovic. Here is where it really knocks on the door. Kyrgios is up de Minaur’s nose, but by then he would also be up Australia’s. Millions would be on de Minaur’s side. More likely, it will be Djokovic, and sad to say, Australia’s act of forgiving Djokovic (or apologising) for last year will be to cheer for him against Kyrgios.

Should a miracle happen, Kyrgios would likely have Casper Ruud or Taylor Fritz waiting in the semis, and by then he will be so pooped he won’t know his Ruuds from his Runes and his head will be on the fritz.

Well, good luck with that! We can’t quote actual odds on these things as we’re generally against sports betting, but remember, Australia, please gamble as responsibly as your man behaves on the court.

Watch the Australian Open live and free on the 9Network - Channel 9 and 9Gem.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.