Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic are set to reunite on court for the Brisbane International, marking a thrilling return for Kyrgios after a challenging period of injury recovery. Once fierce rivals, the pair have since developed a close friendship, and will team up for doubles at the Queensland tournament, which begins on 29 December.
Kyrgios, who has sidelined himself with career-threatening wrist and knee injuries, credited Djokovic for motivating him to make a comeback to tennis. The 29-year-old Australian has played just one ATP match since the 2022 US Open, but he used an injury-protected ranking to secure a direct entry into the Australian Open in January. The doubles pairing with Djokovic will serve as a warm-up for their Australian Open campaign.
Kyrgios shared the news on Instagram, posting a photo of himself and Djokovic walking onto the court ahead of their 2022 Wimbledon final, which Kyrgios lost in four sets. The caption read, “Doubles at Brisbane. See y’all there.”
This upcoming doubles pairing stems from a conversation between the two at the 2023 Australian Open, where Djokovic urged Kyrgios to return to the tour and promised that they would play doubles together before either of them retired. “You’ve got to promise me something … recover quick, come back to the tour before I retire and we’ve got to play doubles,” Djokovic had told Kyrgios.
Kyrgios, who underwent three rounds of surgery over the past year to address his injuries, revealed that Djokovic’s words played a pivotal role in his decision to push through the recovery process. At one point, Kyrgios had considered retiring from tennis due to his slow recovery, but a pep talk from Djokovic during a hitting session at Wimbledon reignited his motivation.
“I was hitting with Novak and when he said to me, ‘it doesn’t look like you’ve had surgery,’ that was a big motivation for me. I didn’t really know how much progress I had made, but that gave me the belief that I was heading in the right direction,” Kyrgios said. “That was definitely a big part of the journey when he said that to me.”
Before returning to competitive action in Brisbane, Kyrgios will participate in the World Tennis League exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, beginning 19 December. The mixed team event will feature other top players such as Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Daniil Medvedev, and Casper Ruud.
Kyrgios, who won the 2022 Australian Open men’s doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis, said he and Kokkinakis are unsure whether they will play doubles at Melbourne Park this year due to the demanding schedule. “Everyone loved it last time, we loved it, it was so much fun,” Kokkinakis said. “But singles is definitely the priority for us. If you have a big five-set match, the last thing you want to do is play doubles the next day. We’ll play it by ear and see how it goes.”
Kyrgios and Djokovic’s doubles partnership at Brisbane promises to be a thrilling spectacle for tennis fans, as the duo looks to shake off the rust and prepare for their singles campaigns in 2024.
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