Kyrgios employs sneaky Federer tactic in Brisbane triumph

Nick Kyrgios channeled the great Roger Federer with a sneaky tactic in the Brisbane International final.

Kyrgios claimed his maiden ATP title on home soil and first since 2016, combining casual flair with enormous power to beat Ryan Harrison 6-4 6-2 on Sunday night.

TAKE A BOW: Kyrgios praised for humble victory speech

The 22-year-old Aussie managed to break down Harrison's serve with a ploy straight out of the Federer playbook.

Kyrgios charged the net during Harrison's serve on multiple occasions, leaving the American pretty stunned by the bizarre tactic.

At times Kyrgios was half-volleying his returns of serve, and as you can see in the video above, it threw Harrison right off.

"That's just amazing," Roger Rasheed said in commentary.

"He's actually got time to play that shot despite charging into the net."

Geoff Masters was equally impressed, adding: "That serve was 193km/h and he took it on the rise!"

The tactics were reminiscent of Federer's famous SABR - Sneak Attack by Roger - which he first employed back in 2015.

We don't see it that much these days, but in 2015 Federer would frequently charge in on an opponent's second serve and take it on the half-volley.

However even the great Federer refrained from doing it on a first serve, as Kyrgios did against Harrison.

The SABR actually drew some criticism from German tennis great Boris Becker.

“It’s almost disrespecting the other guy's serve,” Becker said at the 2015 US Open.

“If he would have played a [John] McEnroe, [Jimmy] Connors, [Ivan] Lendl or even me, we would have said: ‘Roger, in all honesty I like you very much [but] I'll go straight at you’.

"In my generation guys would not have accepted as it is now."

Meanwhile, Kyrgios has doused any concerns of injury after again having his left knee strapped in the final.

At one stage in the first set he quizzed a match official after not being allowed a medical time-out to re-strap his knee, hypothetically raising the notion that further injury could keep him out of the Australian Open.

Kyrgios clarified after the match that it was simply "professional curiosity" that led to that conversation, dousing any suggestion that the injury could derail his Melbourne campaign as he confirmed his attendance at Monday's Fast4 exhibition tournament in Sydney.

His movement only improved after that exchange, a 17th ace sealing the victory in 1 hour and 13 minutes as he appeared largely untroubled navigating the court.

"The more the load, the more movement given, the better it gets," he said.

"I played 11 sets (in the tournament) and feel good."

with AAP