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In an interview with Australian media outlet WA Today on Friday, Nick Kyrgios said he was in favor of Novak Djokovic’s participation in the Australian Open 2023 (January 16-29). The Aussie considers his presence essential for tennis, especially after the retirement of Roger Federer.
Their “bromance“, as Novak Djokovic called it at Wimbledon, is still going strong. In any case, Nick Kyrgios does everything to maintain it. In comments reported by the Australian media WA Today on Friday, he said he was in favor of the return of the Serb to Melbourne to play in the next Australian Open (16-29 January 2023). Currently, the former world number one is under a three-year visa ban, although he is optimistic about the negotiations currently being held between his lawyers and the authorities in charge of his case.
“I hope he will be there for the good of the sport,” said Kyrgios. We just saw Roger (Federer), one of those legends, say goodbye to tennis, and nobody will ever be able to replace him. As long as Novak and Rafa are still playing, we need these types of players. We want to see the best in the world in Melbourne. As a competitor, I want to see Novak.“
“LET’S HOPE AUSTRALIA WELCOMES HIM WITH OPEN ARMS THIS TIME.”
Earlier this year, when Djokovic was forced out of Australia after an unlikely legal imbroglio, Kyrgios was one of the only voices to speak up in his defense. It was a particularly surprising turnaround, as the Aussie had taken great pleasure in the past in titillating the former world number one at every opportunity. He had been particularly acerbic during the episode of the Adria Tour, the exhibition tour organized in the Balkans by the Serbian which had turned into a fiasco in the middle of the Covid epidemic in the summer of 2020.
But since then, relations between the two men have warmed up considerably. The ceremony of handing over the trophies at Wimbledon had notably shown it. “It’s been hard for him over the last nine months: not to play here, here and again there. Hopefully Australia will welcome him with open arms this time,” Kyrgios concluded in WA Today.
