Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic to play men’s doubles together in Brisbane

Nick Kyrgios (Carine06, Wikimedia Commons)

According to the ATP Tour on Saturday, thee will be an intriguing matchup in men’s doubles at the Brisbane International starting Sunday. The tournament, which is a tuneup for the Australian Open in January, will see 24-time major singles champion Novak Djokovic of Belgrade, Serbia play alongside 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios of Canberra, Australia.

Djokovic will be coached by British tennis star Andy Murray at the Australian Open. However, it seems that Murray will not be at any tuneup events.

For his doubles career, Djokovic has a record of 64 wins and 80 losses, and one title. It came with Jonathan Erlich of Israel at the 2010 Queen’s Club Championship. Djokovic and Erlich beat Karol Beck of Slovakia and David Skoch of the Czech Republic 6-7, 6-2, [10-3].

Kyrgios, meanwhile, has won four doubles titles. He won alongside American Jack Sock at the 2018 Lyon Open and the 2022 Washington Open, and alongside fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis of Adelaide at the 2022 Australian Open, and 2022 Atlanta Open.

When Kyrgios and Kokkinakis teamed up together two years ago, they beat an Australian men’s doubles team twice. They beat Matthew Ebden of Perth and Max Purcell of Sydney 7-5, 6-4 at the 2022 Australian Open final, and then Jason Kubler of Brisbane and John Peers of Melbourne 7-6, 7-5 in the Atlanta Open final.

This will be the first time ever Kyrgios and Djokovic are playing together. In singles action head-to-head, Kyrgios has won two of three matches. Kyrgios won 7-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of Acapulco in 2017, and 6-4, 7-6 in the fourth round of Indian Wells in 2017. Djokovic won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in the 2022 Wimbledon Final.

Only once in 2024 did Djokovic play a doubles match. That was with Hamad Medjedovic. In Davis Cup qualifying in September, Djokovic and Medjedovic teamed up to beat Aristotelis Thanos and Petros Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Kyrgios has not played a men’s doubles match since 2022.