Rising star Nick Kyrgios falls short in epic five-set battle Kyrgios loses match, wins hearts Fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro suffers a shock elimination, while Nick Kyrgios battled to the very end as he lost to Benoit Paire in five sets. PT1M34S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-30yf1 620 349 January 17, 2014 - 8:26AM He started late, finished in the early hours and left knowing for his body, it was not yet time. Nick Kyrgios did not win, but did not really lose. Cramped almost to a standstill, the 18-year-old was beaten in five sets 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 6-2 by Benoit Paire and by his body's refusal to yet do what he was asking of it. I gave everything I could. Me and my coach know that. Yeah, obviously happy with my effort. Obviously a bit disappointed we didn't get the win, but that will come in time. I definitely had opportunities to take the match as well," Kyrgios said. Rising star: Nick Kyrgios of Australia celebrates winning a point in his second round match against Benoit Paire. He added: "I just tried to keep going, leave nothing out there. I thought that's what I did. After he tightened up in the fourth set Kyrgios struggled to walk between points let alone jog around the court in the fifth, watching despondently as he was forced to allow balls that had earlier been relentlessly hunted to now pass unchallenged. I honestly started feeling it halfway through the third set. I always was going to feel it sometime through that match," Kyrgios said. Thriller: Benoit Paire of France shakes hands with Nick Kyrgios. I thought (Paire) managed himself better throughout the match and that's why he came out on top. It was a really fun night. It motivates me to get out there again and have another shot. I guess it's all a process. The more matches you play like that, the more experience you get, the more miles you get in your legs. I finished the match and didn't have to retire, so that's confidence in itself as well. Playing somebody in the top 30 and taking him to five sets is not a bad result either. Nick Kyrgios falls in the final set. Kyrgios's body had finally betrayed the youthfulness of his game that his tennis had refused to reveal. He did not concede, he did not call for a trainer, he looked pleadingly for an answer from somewhere but knew he could enjoy no relief short of defeat. He pressed through a fifth set as his body cramped and tightened and squeezed him out of a match that had seemingly been his for the taking when he had the 27th seed Frenchman down two sets and a break. The kid in a hurry was dramatically, teasingly, made to wait by lightning and a drizzle of rain but when he finally strutted onto Margaret Court Arena late Thursday night he swaggered through two rollicking sets claiming them both in tie breakers with the calm assurance of someone who knows they belong. He is the kid who arrives at the moment and is not overcome with wonder. It is like he is thinking you have been waiting for me longer than I have been waiting for you. And he might be right. When he broke again in the third set he could have and should have won from there. That he didn't really mattered not a jot for he had already reinforced the idea that he is a player for tomorrow and, for still-pinching-themselves Australian tennis fans, for Australian tennis. Like his ethnically linked, alliteratively partnered mate Thanasi Kokkinakis, Kyrgios had delivered to tennis what it has most craved. In what is already a summer of a retro re-acquaintance with old loves - Test cricket; moustachioed fast bowlers; beating England - tennis is now fun again. At least it is to parochial eyes, but there is something infectious about Kyrgios' energy that will probably appeal to the broader tennis watcher. Maybe his strut will wear thin, but not now. And certainly not with an Australian crowd eager for someone to love. The crowd was unbelievable. It felt sort of like a Davis Cup atmosphere. I can't thank the fans enough. Every point they were chanting. They were going nuts out there, so, you know, that was, yeah, it was an honour to be out there," he said. Of course it was true that the result would always be slightly beside the point for a player who was really being examined to see if he was the real deal. He announced emphatically that he was. This idea was quickly lost in the exuberance of Kyrgios's game, only lasting a few games. Then he showed he was not to be bullied but instead the one to be doing some bullying. He began compiling points and games as the idea of winning a set grew. When he won a set the idea of winning another one grew. And he won another. And it became impossible not to be drawn into his impatience and his unwavering belief that he was already ready for this. Before he had even reached Margaret Court Arena, Kyrgios was declaring it his place. Impatient for his game to start he tweeted: "Atmosphere sounds sick right now on MCA, get me out there guys this is my crowd @AustralianOpen I wanna play! #StayAroundsGuys #NKrising" He is confident. He walked onto court, pink headphones on his ears, one fist raised in the air salute to the crowd. In his first game he rifled a 211km/h ace then followed up with a double fault, the second serve of which may have been hit by Steve Harmison. It would have missed gully. He was undaunted. Repeatedly he was confronted by big moments that asked big questions. Confronting break point after break point he nervelessly thundered out his most audacious shots - big serves to the tightest corners, cross court dabs, swats to defy expectation and yet build expectations. And with each came a pimp roll shrug and the game became about him in a way that all games in future will be about him. He demands the eye. Eyes will be on him for a long time.