Australian Open: Maturing Kyrgios in better 'head space' after loss

Twelve months ago the combustible Australian was in a bad place after being jeered and accused of giving up as he crashed out in the second round in a stormy five-set defeat to Italian Andreas Seppi.

Tennis great John McEnroe labelled him as "mentally (ranked) about 200 in the world" and said he was giving the sport a "black eye".

But a year on and Kyrgios seems to have turned a corner.

He remains an exciting and unpredictable talent, but with a calmer persona.

"I gave my best efforts this week," he said after losing in four gripping sets to world number three Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round at Melbourne Park late Sunday.

"I came up short but I beat three quality opponents. I lost to one of the best players in the world but I went down swinging.

"Obviously I feel a lot better this time around," he added. "Last year I really didn't know what I was going to do after the Australian Open. I feel like I have more of a vision and goal for this year.

"I think I'm in a good head space."