Doubles trouble ahead with Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic to team up in Brisbane
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Nick Kyrgios will team up with Novak Djokovic at the Brisbane International after crediting the former world No1 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 gets under way on 29 December.
The pair will use the event to warm up for next month’s Australian Open, with Kyrgios 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, writing “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,” Djokoivc said.
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 contemplated giving tennis away with his wrist 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.
