Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal met in a fourth-round Australian Open grudge match on Monday.

It is well documented that the pair have very little time for each other, with Nadal often criticising the Australian's questionable on-court behaviour.

Kyrgios, on the other hand, has never been shy to speak his mind and more often than not he aims his verbal jabs in the direction of the Spanish great.

All their history made this clash so much more than just a simple fourth-round meeting, with the partisan home crowd raucously backing Kyrgios.

However, it was Nadal who set off quicker, comfortably winning the first set 6-3.

In the past, Kyrgios has been known to roll over after a difficult first set but he wasn't about to back down against Nadal.

He came out all guns blazing in the second, blowing Nadal away to take it 6-3.

Sadly, Kyrgios' famous temper began to rear its ugly head in the third set tie-break with the Australian wrecking a racket before tossing it into the crowd.

He continued to moan to the chair umpire after that as Nadal broke him early in the fourth.

From that point on, Nadal looked like he was in full control as Kyrgios battled his own temper to cling on in the match.

However, just when it looked like Nadal had it all sewn up, an incredible double-fault handed Kyrgios a gift-wrapped opportunity to wrestle his way back into the tie.

Kyrgios duly obliged and broke Nadal.

That was as good as it would get for the Australian though, as Nadal clicked through the gears to clinch the tiebreaker and book a spot in the final eight.

He will now face Dominic Thiem as he continues to hunt down Roger Federer's tally of 20 Grand Slam titles.