Nearly six weeks ago, Kyrgios was putting in the work. Several two-and-a-half-hour sessions with Hewitt and Kyrgios' hitting partner Tristan Tringali at Hunters Hill Lawn Tennis Club prepared the 27-year-old to make history on Sunday night.

"He was hitting the ball really well," club president Alf Cocco told The Canberra Times of Kyrgios.

"I actually said to him, 'Nick, I think you're going to do some damage in Europe', and he said, 'Well that's the plan'."

Cocco said Kyrgios was "very respectful" and the world no. 40 was also generous with his time around young fans lucky enough to snag a signed tennis ball and photo with the star.

While their surface cannot compare to the iconic grasscourts of Wimbledon, the Australian-based training gave Kyrgios an edge.

"Our courts have more of a variable bounce than the pristine, flat courts at Wimbledon," Cocco said.

"But it's a very good court for someone with great hand-eye coordination like Nick has, as they can adjust to the bounce and I think it helped him."

It also allowed Kyrgios to train longer in Australia before needing to travel to Europe where he competed in lead-up tournaments.

There's a special history the Sydney club shares with Wimbledon, too.

"It's actually coincidental that Wimbledon and the All England Club celebrate their centenary the same year as us this year," Cocco said.

"Our club has been going since the 1888, but this site we purchased in 1922."

Grasscourts are not easily found in Australia, and high quality examples are even harder to find due to the maintenance they require.

Kyrgios was last at the Sydney club in 2016 when the Australian Davis Cup team captained by Hewitt trained there for their tie with Slovakia.

Six years later at the same venue, little did Hewitt know he was helping Kyrgios achieve what he did back in 2002 in reaching the Wimbledon final.

The last piece of the puzzle is for Kyrgios to win the trophy as Hewitt did.

"Lleyton gave Nick a good workout," Cocco said of the pair's sessions.

"I could see Nick was very determined, quite keen and training very hard.

"He was quite serious about wanting to do well."

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