Nick Kyrgios in form of his life and under intense scrutiny at US Open

You wouldn’t know Nick Kyrgios is getting sued based on his Instagram page. While a Wimbledon fan he accused of being drunk was preparing her legal papers, the subject of her litigation was cruising around Manhattan in a rickshaw, a Book of Mormon program in hand, grooving to beats, enjoying the Times Square tourist jaunt. “LUV NY,” he captioned the video.

Start spreading the news, he’s leaving today. Kyrgios is in New York and everyone is watching. Rarely does the Australian not command international attention, but perhaps never has there been so much of it as now, in the week before the US Open begins. On the court he is a Wimbledon finalist with the potential to win his first grand slam. A slouching, sauntering vessel of expectation whose game has hit its rapscallion best. Off it, he is distracted on two different fronts.

On Tuesday, the woman Kyrgios claimed “had about 700 drinks, bro” and had distracted him during his Wimbledon final loss to Novak Djokovic said she had decided to bring defamation proceedings against him over his “entirely baseless” comments about her to the chair umpire. It came hours after his lawyer attended a court hearing on his behalf in Canberra after he was summoned to appear to face a charge of assaulting his former girlfriend.

About 16,000km away, Kyrgios appears insouciant. Doing his thing, seemingly immune to the noise. Classic Kyrgios. What is he thinking? Is he worried? Indifferent? Even if he tells us, we probably won’t have the answer until he gets on the court, where each brilliant serve and unbeatable winner and every blazing blow-up says more than any words could.

Kyrgios has capitalised on a funny year in tennis. In the past six months the 27-year-old has climbed from a world