Djokovic Reveals Plans To Play Doubles With Kyrgios Again This Year
NewsSunday, 30 March 2025 at 17:02
Novak Djokovic would want to play doubles with Nick Kyrgios at least one more time after the two joined forces at the start of this season.
Djokovic and Kyrgios used to be players who didn't like each other. However, their relationship significantly changed when the Serbian player was deported from Australia, and Kyrgios showed him plenty of support, as one of the very few players.
Since then, their relationship has developed even more, and the two enjoy some banter every now and then and often appear together in the players' area or anywhere around the venue if they both compete in the same event.
That happened at the 2025 Miami Open, where Kyrgios won his first match since 2022. It was a comeback win over Mackenzie McDonald, and a very needed win for the Australian, who admitted he was emotional after winning the match.
He likely wasn't the only one, as many were happy to see Kyrgios win again after struggling with injuries for so long. One of those was Djokovic, who spoke about his friend during the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami.
"I saw him in the locker room, in his sleeveless basketball jersey. I don’t think he’s ever worn a tennis shirt, I’ve never seen him with a tennis gear on. I congratulated him, I was glad for him because he’s had injuries and he was absent from the Tour, we know all the struggles."
"I think it’s his first win in a couple of years, so it’s great to see him back and playing well. I don’t think that’s ever an issue, the quality of tennis he has it in his hands. It’s just a matter of him being healthy, staying healthy and injury-free."
Djokovic is, of course, well aware of Kyrgios' injury struggles, and as someone who has dedicated his life to being able to play for as long as possible, he wanted to help the 2022 Australian Open doubles champion.
The 37-year-old Serbian revealed that when they competed together at the Brisbane International earlier this year, he wanted to show Kyrgios how he warms up, but the Australian had no interest in joining him.
"I tried, when we played doubles in Brisbane earlier this year, to kind of draw him into some of my warm-up, cool-down routines. Every time he would see me before the match, before we would actually go to warm up on court for the match, I’d spend like an hour in the gym, do my own thing and warm up every muscle in my body."
"I would just try to chase him down and bring him over. He would be running away from me, commenting you know, that’s not for him. That’s maybe part of the reason why he’s been injured so much. I really do wish that he stays injury-free."
Despite not being able to convince Kyrgios to warm up with him, the 24-time Grand Slam champion revealed that he would love to play at least one more event with the Australian.
Djokovic also revealed that he plans to compete at the Belgrade Open this year (ATP 250 event, which runs from November 2nd to 8th), and he would be happy if Kyrgios joined him in his hometown.
"I do really wish that we play another time [in] doubles. Later on this year we have a tournament in Belgrade, I’m planning to play it. I don’t know if he’s planning to come, so maybe, yeah, maybe we should slam it there."
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