Few had it on their bingo cards Novak Djokovic appointing a long-time rival as chief advisor and a former adversary as his doubles partner for the start of the new season.
After 24 Grand Slam triumphs and more than 20 years on tour, however, the Serbian had earned the right to shake up the norm as he prepared for his return to the Brisbane International.
Djokovic’s coaching partnership with fellow 37-year-old Andy Murray was revealed less than four months after the Brit retired at the Paris Olympics, the same event at which Djokovic emerged triumphant for the last significant prize he had not claimed.
Months later, Nick Kyrgios declared he and the man who denied him in the 2022 Wimbledon final would form an unlikely doubles combination in Brisbane.
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“Andy has been with me for about 10 days of the preparation period before me coming to Australia and spent some time on the court, off the court,” Djokovic said ahead of his first-round encounter against Australian world No.73 Rinky Hijikata.
“Being on the same side of the net is actually great for a change, you know, because he’s been one of my greatest rivals, and in a way it was strange for me to share all these kind of insights about how I feel on the court, sharing some of the secrets of what I’m going through, what I’m thinking about, how I see my game with somebody that has been always one of the top rivals.”
While Murray had not made the return trip to Brisbane, the site of two of his career titles, he was set to reunite with Djokovic a week ahead of the Australian Open before the pair assessed their working future together following the Melbourne Park campaign.
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Djokovic, who underwent knee surgery this year before he returned to make the Wimbledon final in his first event back, hailed Murray’s meticulous and dedicated approach to the sport.
“I think it’s amazing news for me because he has a unique perspective on my game. As one of the greatest rivals that I’ve had, he knows the pros and cons of my game and he has also played up to recently on the tour so he knows all the other best players currently in the world. The youngsters and their weaknesses and their strengths in their games.”
> Day 2 preview: Dimitrov opens title defence, Djokovic/Kyrgios combine
Kyrgios quipped that he was the one doing Djokovic a favour teaming up in doubles for the first time ahead of the pair’s opening match against Austrian Alexander Erler and German Andreas Mies at Pat Rafter Arena on Monday night.
Djokovic revealed the unlikely partnership came about during Wimbledon this year when they practised together on grass.
“Absolutely he’s doing me a favour,” he laughed. “We talked about playing doubles in Wimbledon, earlier this year when we practised during Wimbledon. We practised several times as he was doing commentating. We kind of joked around and said ‘you know, when you come back on the tour we should play doubles’.
“I didn’t expect it to be so early already. It’s going to be his first tournament back after a while but it’s great. You know, we were communicating the last couple of weeks about it and decided to play … Nick is quite a character. We’ve had quite an interesting history of relationship, him and I. From not that great at all to getting along really well now, so it should be fun for us on the court but also for everyone watching.”