Djokovic & Kyrgios to meet before Australian Open in a charity match

The 2022 Wimbledon Championships final between Nick Kyrgios and nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic will see its rematch in Melbourne.

The two players once used to be bitter rivals, but they became relatively good friends since. In 2022, they even played in a Grand Slam final against each other, joking together during the trophy ceremony and showing respect to one another.

Now, they will meet for the first time since their match in the All England Club, and it will be for a good cause as they will play on Friday, January 13, at the Rod Laver Arena.

The match will be part of the Perfect Practice, which is a series of exhibition matches held in the build-up to the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.

Denis Shapovalov will play against Holger Rune on Monday, and two highest-ranked American players, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, will meet on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, there will be two matches as Felix Auger-Aliassime will play against Christian Garin, and Novak Djokovic will meet Daniil Medvedev in a highly-anticipated rematch of their Adelaide International semi-final clash.

On Thursday, fans will be treated to four matches. First, Alexander Zverev will meet his good friend Dominic Thiem in the rematch of the 2020 US Open final.

Then, Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari will take care of another women's match. After that, the day will be filled with two more men's matches.

First, Stan Wawrinka will play against an opponent, which is yet to be announced, and Rafael Nadal will meet Hubert Hurkacz.

And finally on Friday, the match between Kyrgios and Djokovic will be played. This match also received a special name, and it's expected that there will be more action during the evening than just the match between the two last year's Wimbledon finalists.

It will be called the Arena Showdown, and the tickets will cost A$20. The money from the sales will be then donated to the Australian Tennis Foundation.