Nick Kyrgios sets up Wimbledon grudge match with Rafael Nadal

"Not sure that me and Rafa could go down to the Dog & Fox and have a beer together," Kyrgios said after the two verbal sparring partners confirmed their box-office Wimbledon showdown with contrasting first-round wins on day two.

"I don't know him very well. We have a mutual respect, but that's about it.

"That's just how it is. I get along with people, some people I don't get along with."

Kyrgios and Nadal certainly haven't been getting along in 2019.

Kyrgios branded Nadal "super salty" in an explosive podcast after the Spaniard took exception to being under-armed during a loss to the unpredictable Australian in Acapulco.

Kyrgios then dubbed Nadal's uncle Toni "an idiot" after being accused of being uneducated and lacking respect for his tour rivals.

"I can't wait. As soon as the draw came out, I was super happy that I saw him in my section," Kyrgios said after denying fellow Australian Jordan Thompson 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-6 (12-10) 0-6 6-1 to book his latest confrontation with Nadal.

"When you're a kid, you want to play the best players in the world on, I think it's the best court in the world.

"This is something that I can't take for granted. There's no guarantee I'm going to be here again in this position. Could have an injury or something like that.

"I'm going to grasp it with both hands, go out there, give it my best shot."

Tennis fans queued early to see Kyrgios, many hoping for fireworks from a player who has the longest rap sheet in the game. But by the time he triumphed over Thompson in an extraordinary contest, they were putty in his hands.

Only once did he lose his cool and belt a ball into the sky while chuntering about a bad call. The rest of the time he was more reminiscent of French maestro Henri Leconte playing an exhibition - both in terms of crowd interaction and shot choice.

"I'm never going to change," Kyrgios told reporters. "I used to be like this when I played under 12s, 14s. I just go out there, have fun, play the game how I want it to be played.

"At the end of the day I know people are going to watch. They can say the way I play isn't right or 'he's classless for the sport', all that sort of stuff. They're probably still going to be there watching."

Kyrgios must have played 30 drop shots, despite almost every one of them failing to yield a point. He threw in a bewildering array of slices and dices amid more conventional ground strokes and serves of immense power.

He somehow lost the fourth set to love in 18 minutes - less time than he took to win a marathon 12-10 tie break in the third.

He served a 120 mph ace on second serve on game point at 5-4 down in the first set. There was the mandatory under-arm serve, a half-court lap of honour after winning a key point in a tie break, repeated collapses to the floor in mock - or perhaps real - exhaustion.

Up or down in the match, Kyrgios seemed to be enjoying himself immensely - which appeared to discombobulate his opponent as much as his varied serves, which frequently left him wrong-footed and appealing to the skies for guidance.

The third set tiebreak was a classic, swinging both ways, though with Kyrgios always seemingly on top, which made his fourth set collapse even more inexplicable.

He did not quite "tank" it, as he has so often before, but did not bust a gut either once he had been broken twice.

Kyrgios was re-energised for the fifth, cutting down the high-risk, low-reward drop shots, and really finding his range with his powerful forehand.

It eventually proved too much for Thompson, who has now lost in the first round on all four of his appearances, as Kyrgios eventually ran away with the fifth set to secure his meeting with Nadal.

As well as conquering Nadal in Mexico, Kyrgios famously cut the 18-times grand slam champion down to size on Wimbledon's centre court as a teenager on debut at Wimbledon in 2014.

He said he'd draw on that win as inspiration on Thursday.

"I've looked back on that moment. That's never going to leave my tennis career. It was one of the most special moments I've ever had," Kyrgios said.

"He's one of the greatest tennis players of all time. I go into that match as an unbelievable underdog. I know if I play the right type of tennis, I can have success against him.

"I have to come with the right attitude, I have to be willing to fight. If not, it's going to be butter for him."

Nadal barely raised a sweat in swatting aside Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita for the loss of only seven games (6-3 6-1 6-3).

Having split all six meetings with Kyrgios, the world No.2 is suitably wary.

"My thoughts are very clear: I play against a top talent player, a very dangerous player when he wants to play tennis," Nadal said.

"Normally against the best players, he wants to play tennis. When that happens, he's a very dangerous opponent.

"Of course, like second round is a super tough one. I know that. I need to be at my 100 per cent. I'm going to fight for it."

AAP and Reuters