For those of you who gave up on Kyrgios, went to bed even though he had refused to retire himself, you missed the best shot of his second-round match at the Australian Open.

You probably saw the spectacular volley off his fluorescent-pink shoes to save a set point in the second set, which Kyrgios eventually went on to win. But more endearing, for me, was a shot he made when a loss was inevitable.

With legs so knotted by cramp, it looked like the lanky teen was playing tennis on stilts, he faced up to a match point against Frenchman and world No. 28 Benoit Paire.

Paire, who'd been using drop shots like a matador uses swords, slowly leaking blood from a wounded bull, served out wide to the Kyrgios forehand.

Given the circumstances, it should have been out of reach. Match over.

But Kyrgios stretched one last time, cocked his racquet, and spanked it straight back across court for a winner.

For that point, it was Paire who was paralysed.

And although Kyrgios would be eliminated in the very next rally, at 1.38am I'd felt rewarded for staying up to watch it all.

Kyrgios hadn't given up, so I hadn't wanted to give up on him either.

It was the type of fighting effort that engenders support.

And these days you can directly measure that support. Kyrgios' Twitter followers have soared from less than 4000 to more than 13,000 in a week.

His website crashed on Friday when it received more than 250,000 hits.

Fans liked what they saw.

A big serve. Powerful winners. Hope for Aussie tennis.

Australians can sometimes be put off by an ostentatious showman, which Kyrgios undoubtedly is.

If you didn't see that volley mentioned above, check out the internet highlights. A cocky Kyrgios, with arms outstretched, even nods his own approval at it.

A basketball fan, Kyrgios throws the ball backwards between his legs before every serve, like he's a Harlem Globetrotter.

There's his quasi-mohawk haircut with speed stripes down the side and a strut that Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter suggests needs to be toned down.

His mate, Thanasi Kokkinakis, brashly predicts they both can become faces of Australian - no world - tennis.

But for all that, Australians most admire a fighter. And Kyrgios, in defeat on Thursday night, was Lleyton Hewitt-like.

It's a compliment for the 18-year-old, who outwardly has a lot more in common with 21-year-old Bernard Tomic.

Both were tennis prodigies, grand slam winners in the junior ranks.

They are mates too and spent some time training together in the off-season.

But they are now at opposite ends of Australian sport's appreciation scale.

It was the obvious barb during Kyrgios' match - was Tomic watching this?

Kyrgios battled on for two sets with cramp, a wildcard underdog celebrated.

Tomic quit his first- round match against Rafael Nadal after losing one set.

Tomic was booed on centre court, Rod Laver Arena. For Kyrgios, fans in the third-string Margaret Court Arena serenaded him with Waltzing Matilda.

Tomic appears to have been genuinely injured. But already, at 21, he has history.

US legend John McEnroe accused Tomic of tanking during his straight-sets loss to Andy Roddick at the 2012 US Open.

In 2013, he did not finish four matches due to injuries.

''I felt like I got booed a little bit on court, which was pretty unfair,'' Tomic said this week. ''I think I was misunderstood.

''That's the thing of getting there very young. You get thrown into a lot of things. A lot of things come your way. Being good, being talented, and being young is something that I have.''

But Tomic does not have support on his side.

Kyrgios has that support, now he must maintain it.

So hopefully Tomic has learnt something from Kyrgios this week, and also Kyrgios has seen how Tomic was received by the public, too, and how it can be lost.

Humility is admirable.

The praise for Kyrgios has been glowing. Former world No.1 Jim Courier compared Kyrgios to another retired US star in Roddick.

Defending Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka tweeted during Kyrgios' match: ''Australian tennis men's future is looking really good #wow''.

Two months ago I watched Kyrgios back home, playing in the Asian Pacific Tennis League for the Canberra Velocity in Woden.

Thankfully, although he has a lot more Twitter followers, I saw the same competitor fighting on Thursday night.