Given the two protagonists involved, shenanigans were expected in Tuesday’s showdown between Nick Kyrgios at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Sure enough, Kyrgios came out in nothing short of tank-mode two days after capturing his first career ATP title in Marseille. For at least an hour it looked like the 20-year-old Australian had no interest being in Dubai. Klizan crushed his opponent with a steady diet of drop-shots, but soon the drop-shots started failing. Klizan lost his way, failed to finish the job in straight sets, and let Kyrgios back in the match.

Given new life, Kyrgios raised his energy level in the third and ultimately prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Kyrgios’ rise coincided with Klizan’s demise. The eighth-seeded Slovak saved his “best” for last, as he decided to hit a one-handed forehand with his off hand (the right one) down match point with Kyrgios serving at 5-2.

Next up for Kyrgios is a second-round date with Mikhail Kukushkin on Wednesday.