Novak Djokovic touched down in Australia on Saturday for his surprise doubles team-up with Nick Kyrgios at Brisbane International.
The Serbian tennis pro, 37, plans to play doubles with the Australian sportsman, 29, at the Queensland tournament, which gets underway on December 29.
And he appeared ready for the challenge as he stepped out at Brisbane International Airport on Saturday morning after his long-haul flight.
Djokovic cut an athletic figure in a beige tracksuit set, made up of a polo-style jumper and coordinated tracksuit bottoms, as he kept comfortable for his travels.
He completed his casual look with a pair of white trainers and toted his essentials in a grey backpack and a red suitcase.
Djokovic, who beat Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon singles final, smiled as he strolled through arrivals looking energised and geared-up for the Brisbane International.
Novak Djokovic touched down in Australia on Saturday for his surprise doubles team-up with Nick Kyrgios at Brisbane International
The Serbian tennis pro, 37, plans to play doubles with the Australian sportsman, 29, at the Queensland tournament, which gets underway on December 29
He appeared ready for the challenge as he stepped out at Brisbane International Airport on Saturday morning after his long-haul flight Down Under
The tennis legend is teaming up with Aussie native Kyrgios as he returns to the tournament for the first time since 2009 in a milestone feat.
It will also be a huge occasion for Kyrgios as he is returning to tournament tennis for the first time in 18 months after being sidelined with career-threatening injuries.
As well as their doubles match, they will also both compete in the single’s tournament but are not slated to play each other until the semi-finals, if they both qualify through.
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.
Once bitter rivals but now firm friends, the news that Kyrgios and Djokovic were teaming up for the doubles tournament came as a shock to many tennis fans.
Kyrgios shared the news to Instagram by posting a picture of himself and Djokovic walking at their 2022 Wimbledon final alongside the words: ‘Doubles at Brisbane. See y’all there.’
They recently hinted at their collaboration on the court as Djokovic told Kygrios during a recent interview 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 told the Canberra ace.
Djokovic cut an athletic figure in a beige tracksuit set, made up of a polo-style jumper and coordinated tracksuit bottoms, as he kept comfortable for his travels
He completed his casual look with a pair of white trainers and toted his essentials in a grey backpack and a red suitcase
Djokovic, who beat Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon singles final, smiled as he strolled through arrivals looking energised and geared-up for the Brisbane International
Djokovic kindly took time to take selfies with fans as they excitedly greeted the tennis legend in the airport
Djokovic also fielded questions from the media ahead of his hotly-anticipated return to Brisbane International
The tennis legend is teaming up with Aussie native Kyrgios as he returns to the tournament for the first time since 2009 in a milestone feat
As well as their doubles match, they will also both compete in the single’s tournament but are not slated to play each other until the semifinals, if they both qualify through
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.
He recently revealed that a pep talk from 24-time grand slam winner Djokovic had helped spur his comeback, crediting the former number one for motivating him.
He said he contemplated stopping tennis when his wrist was slow to heal from his surgery, but the record-setting Serb encouraged him to continue when they saw one another at Wimbledon this year.
Kyrgios shared: ‘I was hitting with Novak and when he said to me, ”it doesn’t look like you’ve had surgery”, and that was a big motivation to say like maybe I’m actually making some inroads and some progress into getting back because I didn’t really know.
‘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.’
