Fast-rising British star Jacob Fearnley kept his focus and composure to beat an ailing Nick Kyrgios on the home favourite’s long-awaited comeback at the Australian Open.

Fearnley, 23, cruised to a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 7-6 (7-2) victory in the first overseas Grand Slam match of his fledgling career.

Former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios was making his first appearance at Melbourne Park since 2022 after a string of serious injuries.

But his return was ruined as the Scot, who only left university last April, took full advantage of his opponent’s physical issues in their highly-anticipated first-round match.

“All things considered I think it has to be the best match I’ve ever played,” said Fearnley.

Fearnley’s dominance quietened the home fans at a packed John Cain Arena which has boisterously backed Kyrgios during some memorable moments in his Australian Open career.

However, the atmosphere quickly fell flat as it became apparent that Kyrgios was struggling.

The former world number 13, who is unranked and received a wildcard to play, suffered an abdominal injury on his return at the Brisbane International at the start of January.

It meant there was a doubt if he would even play in Melbourne this week.

Kyrgios looked short of fitness from the start against Fearnley, regularly clutching his abdominal area and twice needing treatment at his chair.

Fearnley, who enjoyed a meteoric rise into the world’s top 100 last year, refused to be distracted by the issues faced by his opponent.

While Kyrgios rallied from a break down in the third set, briefly stoking up the crowd, Fearnley raced away in the tie-break to move into the second round.

Afterwards, Kyrgios – who is due to play in the doubles alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis on Wednesday – reiterated it could have been his Australian Open farewell as a singles player.

“Realistically I can’t see myself playing a singles match here again,” he said.

Casual tennis observers might still be wondering where Fearnley has appeared from.

Little more than a year ago, the Briton was unranked in the professional game and still playing in the “brutal” United States college tennis system where he developed his aggressive game.

Finishing his kinesiology degree at Texas Christian University in April was the point when he decided it was time to move into the professional ranks.

Then came the stunning rise played out at warp speed.

Winning five ATP Challenger events last year propelled him into the top 100 and enabled him to qualify directly for the Australian Open main draw.

Landing Kyrgios was the reward, but it remained to be seen how Fearnley would cope with what was expected to be a boisterous atmosphere.

Despite admitting he felt “anxious”, he hoped his experiences of college tennis – all noise, trash-talking and team bonding – would stand him in good stead.

Fearnley looked calm from the start and clear in his thinking.

Kyrgios was unable to regularly unleash his huge serve and Fearnley was regularly able to get into the receiving points.

That allowed him to take control of the first-set tie-break, race away with the second set and move a break up in the third.

Fearnley’s serve was also rock solid. He dropped just five points on serve in the opening two sets before Kyrgios broke for the only time to take the third into another tie-break which Fearnley dominated.

“I was extremely nervous before the match, I didn’t get too much sleep,” said Fearnley.

“I knew it was going to be a rowdy match but I thought I played good.

“Sorry to Nick, I could tell that he was dealing with some stuff.”

When Kyrgios recently returned to action in Brisbane after an 18-month absence, it completed a comeback which even his wrist surgeon doubted was possible.

Kyrgios suffered a full rupture of the scapholunate ligament, which often leaves patients unable to regain normal function after surgery.

Even his surgeon, Dr Michael Sandow, told BBC Sport that the player’s return to top-level tennis was “better than we could have hoped for”.

But while the wrist “throbbed” after his Brisbane comeback, it was quickly clear it was the abdominal issue hampering him against Fearnley.

From early in the first set, Kyrgios was doing a lot of gesticulating and voicing his complaints between points.

The home fans – many wearing Australian green and gold and waving inflatable yellow kangaroos – tried their best to rally Kyrgios.

“Seeing the fans line up for four, five hours, just the amount of people that were there supporting me, it was hard to throw the towel in,” said Kyrgios.

“It would have been really easy to just roll over.”