Top seed Novak Djokovic looks to kick off his New Year’s Eve celebrations early on Tuesday with a first Brisbane International singles win 16 years after his sole prior unsuccessful attempt.
The now 37-year-old hopes history does not repeat when he meets Australian world No.73 Rinky Hijikata for the first time at Pat Rafter Arena.
The last time the Serbian contested a singles match at the tournament was at the event’s inception in 2009.
At the time, Djokovic was preparing to attempt a first Grand Slam title defence following his breakthrough at Melbourne Park a year earlier.
His Brisbane venture that year ended at the first hurdle at the hands of Latvian Ernests Gulbis.
Showtime! Are you ready for THIS session? 🍿 🙌#BrisbaneTennis 🔜 Day 3 pic.twitter.com/jXcR2tAabH
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) December 30, 2024
Twenty-three further major titles later, Djokovic was not taking his second Brisbane International singles opponent lightly.
“I think it’s a great test. You know, he’s had great success also in doubles on a big stage [winning the 2023 Australian Open],” Djokovic said. “He’s very talented, a very quick player.
“He just loves to play I think on surfaces like here in Brisbane where the ball kind of skids through the court, stays low and, you know, I’ve seen him play. He’s a very, very talented player from the back of the court and obviously with the home-crowd support I’m sure it’s going to be a great atmosphere and a perfect test for me for the first match of the season.”
In a stacked Day 3 schedule, women’s world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka also begins her season at PRA when she faces Mexican Renata Zarazua for the first time.
The reigning two-time Australian Open champion reached the final of the 2024 Brisbane International before Elena Rybakina had her measure.
Following her Melbourne Park triumph she went on to snare her third major trophy at Flushing Meadows and ended as the year-end No.1 for the first time.
> READ MORE: Djokovic hails move to team up with Murray and Kyrgios
In a worrying prospect for her opponents throughout the Australian summer and beyond, she remained a work in progress.
“I had a lot of challenges on and off the court [in the past two seasons],” she said. “I think all of those tough challenges improved me as a player and as a person. I think, yeah, I’m getting better as a player and as a person every day.”
Her opponent, 75th ranked Zarazua, won her first WTA 125 title in Charleston in 2024 and played the main draw at all four majors for the first time.
In the third match at PRA on Tuesday, home hope Nick Kyrgios faces giant-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the ATP’s Most Improved Player awardee, in his first singles outing since June 2023 after a serious wrist injury and subsequent surgery cost him much of the past two years.
> VIEW: Brisbane International Day 3 schedule
His towering 203cm 21-year-old opponent reached the Wimbledon fourth round in 2024 on debut and climbed more than 170 places to finish the year as the world No.31.
“I think especially against Perricard, I could play like Roger [Federer] and still lose,” Kyrgios said. “I could play the worst match of my life and still lose. That’s the type of player he is. He takes the racquet out of your hand. I think I’m playing pretty good. I think I’m still able to play well.”
In the opening match of the day at PRA, another player on the comeback trail from a serious injury, former world No.2 Paula Badosa, makes her Brisbane debut against Armenian Elina Avanesyan.
The Spaniard had fallen as low as world No.140 in May following a string of back stress fractures before a solid US swing in which she landed her first title in more than two years in Washington and reached the US Open quarterfinals to end the season at world No.12 and as the WTA’s Comeback Player of the Year.
The 22-year-old Avanesyan finished the year inside the top 50 for the first time after a season in which she claimed a first top-10 win over Maria Sakkari at the Australian Open and reached the fourth round at Roland Garros.