MELBOURNE: Will Smith made his Grand Slam debut on Friday night, taking a seat at Rod Laver Arena for the electric third-round Australian Open match between local hope Nick Kyrgios and 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The actor briefly met Tsonga before the players walked onto the court.
“Really a great guy. Really sweet. Love his energy,” Smith told former player Jim Courier in an interview aired on the Seven Network. “He has this little bow on his wrist, it looks like a power thing. I don’t know a lot about tennis but watching him I was like man, I think I might have to take this up a little bit. I’m happy being here watching these guys play.”
Smith has spent 10 days in Australia, taking a break before starting work on a movie.
“This is the first time at the Open — this is my first Slam,” said Smith, who planned to watch top-ranked Rafael Nadal on nearby Margaret Court Arena but decided to stick around on the main show court.
Kyrgios prevailed in a big-serving battle of wills against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, downing the Frenchman in four sets to progress to the round of 16 at the Australian Open.
In his scheduled post-match interview, Kyrgios was asked by Courier about the presence of Smith in the crowd.
“Honestly when I saw him out here I was so nervous,” Kyrgios said. “No joke. I was thinking ‘oh my god.’ People think that I’m cool but I wanted him to think I was the coolest man ever. I’ve got to tell him. I have Focus on my phone and I watch it every time I have a flight. Best movie ever ... it’s because of Margot Robbie by the way.”
Smith is the second Hollywood personality at the Australian Open this week. Will Ferrell appeared in the crowd over the first few days, doing an on-court interview with Roger Federer.
Nick Kyrgios ‘so nervous’ by presence of Will Smith at Australian Open
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