Having missed the best part of two years due to wrist and knee injuries, Nick Kyrgios made a successful return to the tour alongside 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic in the pair’s doubles debut at the Brisbane International on Tuesday night.
The duo had a packed Pat Rafter Arena crowd heaving on the way to an entertaining 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 10-8 win over regular doubles pair Alexander Erler of Austria and Andreas Mies of Germany.
“It was awesome … packed house, amazing atmosphere,” Djokovic said. “Great to be back … [Nick] said the other day that it should be a pleasure to play with him. It is, it is a pleasure.
“I’m glad to share the court with him on his comeback. I haven’t played that many doubles matches in my life, particularly in the past five years, so whatever Nick was saying I was following actually.”
Our @EvieNetworks point of the day picked itself, yeah? Simply outrageous from @NickKyrgios!#BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/8wmC679KT1
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) December 30, 2024
Kyrgios denied he was the captain of the scratch pairing, despite being the only one of the two to have landed a Grand Slam doubles trophy – alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2022 Australian Open – and with four doubles trophies to his partner’s one.
“Not at all. I was actually surprised that he doubted himself a little bit in some moments,” Kyrgios said. “I was like, ‘Brother, you’re the greatest of all time, go for it, do what you want to do’.
“For me, I was just looking around, all the fans at this beautiful stadium. I know that this comeback, this injury has been brutal for me. I wasn’t taking this for granted… I was just looking around and soaking in the energy. We promised we’d do this one time before either he goes or I go.”
The win set a clash against top seeds Nikola Mektic of Croatia and New Zealander Michael Venus.