Nick Kyrgios hammers Alex de Minaur for Montreal Masters quarter-final spot

Kyrgios carried on constant backchat with his player box, giving almost a running commentary of his state of mind on court in a display that seems second nature to him. Nevertheless, the Wimbledon runner-up dominated in the all-Aussie match, winning the opening set at a clip of three minutes per game in a contest which took just 64 minutes.

The second-set pace was just as torrid, with Kyrgios breaking in the opening game. He failed to serve out the win leading 5-2, missing on a drop shot and sending a forehand into the net.

But de Minaur lost the next game to love as Kyrgios prevailed in front of a packed-out stadium. The winner of last week's Washington 500 series title stretched his runaway win streak, earning a 15th victory from his last 16 matches.

His lone loss in that span came to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.