Davis Cup, Nick Kyrgios
Mar 31, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; Nick Kyrgios of Australia gestures after winning a point against Roger Federer of Switzerland (not pictured) during a men's singles semi-final in the 2017 Miami Open at Brandon Park Tennis Center. Federer won 7-6(9), 6-7(9), 7-6(5). USA TODAY Sports / Geoff Burke

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios defeated German Mischa Zverev 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to book a berth in the China Open quarter-finals in Beijing. Exactly a year ago, Kyrgios infamously "tanked" at the Shanghai Maters against the same opponent, landing him an eight-week ban from the ATP.

During the match, Tennis Channel commentators wondered "how dialled in" Kyrgios was a year after he received flak for literally throwing away a match in the ATP 500 series event. Staying true to his character, Kyrgios received a code violation for smashing his racquet in disgust after handing Zverev the first set. However, the mercurial youngster quickly recovered and landed a barrage of aces through the next two sets.

“I just wanted to prove to myself how much I have improved. I knew it was going to be tough. He plays a very old-school type of tennis, likes to come forward a lot," Kyrgios said after the victory, via News Limited.

With the victory, Kyrgios admittedly got rid of unpleasant memories from last year and took another positive stride in his development as an all-round player. Though the 22-year-old Canberran still showed signs of an overly temperamental athlete, Kyrgios believes he's in the best mental space of his young career.

“I got broken early in the first, Then I kind of knew I had to loosen up and find my rhythm a little bit. I started serving much better, started just relaxing. I knew I was going to feel pretty comfortable at some stage out there. Obviously (I’m) just really happy to get through," Kyrgios added.

Nick Kyrgios will now face Steve Darcis in the Round of 8, less than two weeks after defeating the Belgian World No. 73 in a Davis Cup encounter at Brussels. Kyrgios could potentially set up a semi-final clash against Alexander Zverev, widely regarded as the next superstar in the sport.