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Craig Tiley was clever to exploit the Djokovic/Kyrgios bromance. The director of Tennis Australia was able to react by scheduling an exhibition match between Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic on Friday. Tickets are only $20 and the proceeds will go to the Australian Tennis Foundation. This match will be the conclusion of a week of exhibition matches with Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Aryna Sabalenka or Maria Sakkari. This will be the first match between Djokovic and Kyrgios since the final of Wimbledon 2022, won by the Serb.
But this confrontation is not to everyone’s taste. Noah Rubin made his doubts clear on Twitter. “It makes little sense. An exhibition just before they meet on a real stage?” he lamented. Enough for Kyrgios to address a dry response: “Well, to be fair, it will bring more people than any of your matches,” he blurted out. Note that in less than an hour, tickets were sold out for this event. 58 minutes exactly. Already a success for Craig Tiley.
As a reminder, Kyrgios had originally discussed an adapted training match with the Serbian just before the Australian Open. The director of Tennis Australia jumped on the opportunity. Not to everyone’s liking but obviously the Australians appreciate it. In a press conference in Adelaide, “Djoko” talked about this meeting. “I have not been his favorite person, let’s put it that way, for many years, but he was one of the few people to support me last year, and I respect that and appreciate it. At times like this, you can really see who is really supporting you and who is on your side and going with the flow of society and the pressures that the media puts on them. He has been unconditionally supportive of me in my time of need. Since then, our relationship has changed for the better. I talked to him about doing something a week before the Australian Open started. I talked to Nick, I’d like to play with him, and he agreed, but he wants shorter sets. Let’s see if it works,” Nole said.
