Novak Djokovic shared his true feelings on playing alongside Nick Kyrgios after the duo teamed up at the Brisbane International.
Djokovic made his first appearance of the new season on Monday at the ATP 250 tournament beside home favourite Kyrgios who was making his return after 18 months on the sidelines.
The pair were handed a doubles wild card and went on to edge Andreas Miles and Alexander Erler 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-8 in an entertaining match lasting one hour and 48 minutes.
Kyrios, in particular, appeared to enjoy the experience, lapping up the appreciation from the crowd.
The Australian produced a succession of box office moments which Djokovic himself seemed to enjoy.
The post-match interview with the pair was just as entertaining as the match with the 24-time Grand Slam winner describing his collaboration with Kyrgios as a ‘pleasure’ before revealing that he was mostly following his partner’s lead throughout the match.
“I want to thank Nick for playing,” said Djokovic. “He said the other day it should be a pleasure to play with him. And it is. It is a pleasure.
“I’m glad to share the court with him on his comeback. I haven’t played many doubles matches in the last 5 years. Whatever Nick was saying I was following actually.”
The 37-year-old was cheekily responding to comments from Kyrgios prior to the tournament when the Australian said: “I mean, everyone thinks it’s a pleasure playing with him, it’s actually a pleasure playing with me, let’s be real.”
Kyrgios, who sealed the victory with an ace, has played just once in over two years due to injury.
He underwent knee surgery in January 2023 and managed to return to action in June of that year before pulling out of Wimbledon after tearing a ligament in his right wrist.
Speaking after the triumph in Brisbane, the 29-year-old said: “This injury has been brutal for me so I wasn’t taking any of this for granted.
“I don’t know how many Aussie summers I’ve got left so I was just looking around and loving the energy and just so happy to be back out here.
“We promised that we were going to do this one more time before either he (Djokovic) goes or I go so I’m glad we’re still alive!”
Djokovic is preparing to win a record-extending 11th Australian Open title next month and his first since 2023.
Jannik Sinner is the current champion following his victory over Daniil Medvedev last time out and the Serb admits to starting his preparations early in pursuit of another triumph in Melbourne.
“I played my last competitive tournament a few months ago, I ended my season quite early, just wanted to get my things together, physically recover and work really on perfecting my game as much as I can,” he said.
“There’s a lot of great players, really quick, dynamic, powerful players nowadays, youngsters that I have to keep up with.”
