Nill Kyrgios was going nowhere.
Not by choice of course, as she watched son Nick play the most important match of his life on Rod Laver Arena.
"I've got my good friend here to try to calm me down and tie me to the chair," she joked after the 19-year-old dropped the first set of his Australian Open quarter-final against Andy Murray on Tuesday night.
Kyrgios' family have become public figures in their own right over the past week, dragged along for Nick's wonderful ride at Melbourne Park.
Father George has donned the same "lucky" fluorescent striped shirt and Akubra, much to Kyrgios' embarrassment.
Brother Christos and sister Halimah have also soaked up the dramatic highs and lows, sitting next to coach Todd Larkham for all of Kyrgios' matches.
In the case of his thrilling fourth-round outing against Andreas Seppi, it became a bit too much for mum Nill.
Notoriously nervous during matches, she did laps of Hisense Arena as the jam-packed crowd cheered every shot.
When pundits criticised Nick's demeanour, she responded in motherly fashion.
"People can say what they want, but they can't question his guts," Nill told Fairfax Media.
Kyrgios struggled to settle on Tuesday night, committing 14 unforced errors in the first set to Murray's seven.
Nill, who introduced a reluctant Nick to tennis at age seven, knew the score.
"There's a lot of errors at the moment," she said of the match.
"He'll just have to do what he has to do (to come back)."
Kyrgios continued to dazzle during many points, pulling out a trademark "tweener" in the third set.
The teen tyro also broke Murray's serve in the final set, a service game that included a humorous rally in which Kyrgios came up to the net and held his racquet out in an attempt to block a smash.
But Kyrgios was unable to force a fourth set or match Murray's consistency at any point.
It was a reminder of the long road ahead for Kyrgios as he attempts to rival the sport's elite.
As Davis Cup teammate Lleyton Hewitt pointed out in commentary, the spotlight will follow him all the way.
"He's going to have that pressure and expectation for so many years," Hewitt said.
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