Australian bad boy Nick Kyrgios made good on a promise he made to friends by beating Andy Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in Wednesday night's Hopman Cup blockbuster at Perth Arena.
Kyrgios entered the match having lost all four of his previous matches to Murray, with three of those coming in grand slams last year.
But with Murray battling a mystery leg injury, Kyrgios ran the world No.2 ragged during the clinical display.
"I actually did promise a couple of my friends that next time I played Andy, I was going to beat him," Kyrgios said.
"He's in the prime of his career. He's been playing some great tennis. Every time I've played him I haven't played bad.
"He's just a great player and today I knew what my game plan was going to be and how he was going to play."
The result gave Australia Green a 1-0 lead in the tie ahead of Daria Gavrilova's showdown against Great Britain's Heather Watson.
Kyrgios kept his cool for most of the contest.
But he became engaged in a quick exchange of words with a member of the crowd while scores were locked up at 4-4 in the second set.
Kyrgios lost the game, but he saved a break point shortly after before going on to win the match in a tiebreak.
The world No.30 said his breakthrough win over Murray would give him a huge dose of confidence heading into the Australian Open.
"It doesn't matter what type of match you're playing, you always want to win," Kyrgios said.
"One hundred per cent he wanted to win that tonight. I thought it was a good match.
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