Comment: Newfound Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic bromance is ‘weird’ and ‘unsettling’

Following years of bristling antagonism, Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic now “have each other’s backs” and frankly it’s plain weird.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic (L) and Australia's Nick Kyrgios pose for pictures during their Arena Showdown charity match ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 13, 2023. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

COMMENT

In case you missed the PDA’s, noted foes Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic are embarking on a budding friendship.

After gently breaking bread in recent times after a five-setter of counter-compliments before the 2022 Wimbledon final, their bromance was fully consecrated this week when the Aussie leapt to Djokovic’s defence after a mouthy spectator taunted the Serb in his second-round win over Alexei Popyrin.

Following years of bristling antagonism, both now “have each other’s backs” and are discussing teaming up for doubles and wrestling, putting them two picnics and a labrador short of fully-certified matrimony.

Yep, the pair now deeply respect each other.

And frankly it’s just plain weird.

"Not necessary... it's like they get bored!" ❌

Nick Kyrgios slams the umpire for giving Novak Djokovic a time violation ⏱#AusOpenpic.twitter.com/OWiu1q2vUE

— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 19, 2024

Watching Novak tonight makes me feel good about my tennis in general 🤣 how have I beaten this guy 🤣

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 23, 2023

Hahaha let’s go https://t.co/yIIM3d8KjZ

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 15, 2024

Bitter as it sounds, tennis was much more compelling when Kyrgios and Djokovic squabbled like a pair of feral strays.

And while it’s reassuring in these chaotic times to see bridges built instead of battle lines, let’s be honest:

Seeing their once-squalid discourse so civil is enormously unedifying, and they should get a room and take it offline before tennis descends in to a Hillsong convention.

Our world is overrun with macho alpha-spats these days.

Ian Chappell and Ian Botham, Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher, and Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell, just to name a few.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Nick Kyrgios of Australia have formed an unlikely alliance. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

Most we’d love to bury the hatchet just for the serenity - but Djokovic and Kyrgios ain’t one of them.

In a benign Australian Open starved of characters where the worst behaved are the boozehounds in the stands, the love affair between Djokovic and Kyrgios has delivered affinity when we need enmity and crying emojis.

And the Aussie’s defence of Djokovic from fans is just the tip of the rotten iceberg.

If there’s one thing more unsettling than a grown man defending another from a spectator who’s drunk half his weight in Peroni, it’s witnessing two celebrities complimenting each other online.

Yep, Kyrgios has even quelled his Big Nick Energy towards Djokovic on social media, a place the spicy right-hander historically treats like a theatre of war.

It’s a far cry from labelling Novak a “tool” and a “very strange cat”, or when Djokovic declared he “doesn’t have much respect” for Kyrgios.

Novak Djokovic (L) is interviewed by Nick Kyrgios ahead of the 2024 Australian Open. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

It’s also unrecognisable from the Aussie threatening to mimic Novak’s celebrations because he had a “sick obsession with being liked”, or Djoker responding by towelling him up in the Wimbledon decider.

Yep, they couldn’t stand each other- and geez it was good.

In fact, rivalries don’t come better matched; Kyrgios, a prickly dude and a crueller waste of talent than a handsome monk, and Djokovic, a man who partied with Covid and fist-pumped when his opponents cramped.

Choosing a side was like picking your favourite varicose vein - but that didn’t mean it wasn’t strenuously entertaining.

But alas, when Kyrgios provided unlikely support for Djokovic after his anti-vax stance landed him in Melbourne immigration detention - an olive branch Novak said “surprised him pleasantly” - we knew something was amiss.

Nick Kyrgios gave his support to Djokovic during his detention in Melbourne in 2022. (Photo by Diego Fedele/Getty Images)

Who would’ve thought years later, this support from Nick for Novak would manifest in the form of a spouse visa.

Yep, life was good when these two wanted a piece of each other, and that’s why it’s crook watching on as they swap sunflowers and gleefully conga-line together like the film-clip to Accidentally Kelly Street.

In summary, with the game skint of larrikins and Aussie chances falling by the wayside, the last thing tennis needs is respect.

Djokovic and Kyrgios barking at each other was good for business, so let’s hope there’s another pandemic soon they can disagree over.

Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.