Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic will make for an unlikely doubles pair at the Brisbane International on December 29.
Once fierce rivals, 29-year-old Kyrgios has hailed the former world number one as one of his greatest motivations for returning to the sport, following years of setbacks caused by wrist and knee injuries.
“You've got to promise me something,” Djokovic told Kyrgios in an interview at this year's Australian Open.
“Recover quick, come back to the tour before I retire and we've got to play doubles.”
Their rivalry culminated in 2022 when Djokovic secured his first win against Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final, which also marked Kyrgios' first and only Grand Slam final appearance.
Since the 2022 US Open quarterfinals, Kyrgios' injuries have seen him play just one ATP match.
“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,” Kyrgios said while working in commentary in London.
“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.”
The pair's doubles partnership at the Brisbane International will serve as a warm-up for next month's Australian Open.
Kyrgios will return to the Australian Open using an injury-protected ranking. He previously won the men's doubles title in 2022 with Thanasi Kokkinakis and the two plan to replicate the victory next month.