Kyrgios and Djokovic to team up for Australian Open warm-up

Nick Kyrgios will team up with Novak Djokovic at the Brisbane International after crediting the former world No.1 for motivating his return from serious injury.

Once bitter rivals but now firm friends, Kyrgios and Djokovic plan to play doubles at the Queensland tournament, which starts on December 29.

The pair will use the event to warm up for next month’s Australian Open. Kyrgios is using an injury-protected ranking to secure a direct entry at Melbourne Park.

The Australian posted the announcement on Instagram, using a photo of himself and Djokovic walking on to court ahead for their 2022 Wimbledon final, which he lost in four sets. He wrote: “Doubles at Brisbane. See y’all there.”

Djokovic told Kygrios in an interview at this year’s Australian Open that they needed to play doubles before he 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 said to the Canberra ace.

Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios.Credit: PENNY STEPHENS

Kyrgios has managed just one ATP match since the 2022 US Open quarter-finals due to career-threatening wrist and knee injuries, which required three rounds of surgery.

The 29-year-old recently revealed that a pep talk from 24-time grand slam winner Djokovic had helped spur his comeback.

He said he had contemplated giving tennis up when his wrist was slow to heal from surgery 15 months ago, but the record-setting Serb encouraged him to continue after they hit at Wimbledon this year.

With his last tour match a short-lived return to grass at Stuttgart in June 2023, Kyrgios was in London working in commentary.

“I was hitting with Novak, when he said to me, ‘It doesn’t look like you’ve had surgery’, and that was a big motivation to say … maybe I’m actually making some inroads and some progress into getting back because I didn’t really know,” the one-time world No.13 said.

“That was a big drive for me ... so, if he didn’t say that, I don’t know if I would have been motivated and if I would have kept pushing on the thought, but that was definitely a big part of the journey when he said that to me.”

Kyrgios will first suit up in the World Tennis League exhibition event in Abu Dhabi from December 19. The mixed team event also attracts the likes of Iga Swiatek, Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev.

Kyrgios won the Australian Open men’s doubles title in 2022 with Thanasi Kokkinakis, and the two are planning to go again in 2025.

“Everyone loved it last time, we loved it, it was so much fun,” Kokkinakis said last week.

“It’s definitely not going to be the priority for us ... singles is definitely the goal.

“If you have a big five-setter, the last thing you want to do is go out and play doubles the next day, but we’ll play it by ear and see how it goes.”

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