(Melbourne) Novak Djokovic said he was “a little emotional” after receiving a warm welcome on Friday on his return to Melbourne where he faced Nick Kyrgios in a sold-out exhibition match ahead of the Australian Open, which begins on Monday.
All 15,000 seats at the Rod Laver Arena were sold out in 58 minutes, with proceeds going to charity.
Djokovic, who was kicked out of Australia a year ago due to his vaccination status, received a warm welcome from the Australian public when he won the Adelaide warm-up tournament last week and so did even Friday at the Rod Laver Arena, where he won nine Grand Slam titles.
“Thank you very much, I feel a bit emotional right now to be honest,” the former Serbian world number one told the crowd before the exhibition, after his entrance to the court was greeted with cheers and cheers. applause.
“I was really looking forward to getting back on this court, so thank you all for coming out tonight for a great cause,” added the 35-year-old.
Djokovic has dominated the Australian Open since his maiden triumph in 2008 but had his visa revoked 12 months ago and was sent off the day before the 2022 tournament began.
Facing Australian Kyrgios, Djokovic wore a compression bandage for a left hamstring problem that prevented him from playing a training match against Russian Daniil Medvedev this week.
But he didn’t seem to have any movement problems and said before the match that he felt “good”.
Kyrgios also dismissed concerns over an ankle injury which has hampered his preparation.
They each won a shortened set before concluding the friendly with a tiebreaker which also featured wheelchair players David Wagner and Heath Davidson.
Djokovic and the whimsical Kyrgios – the Australian public darling who received more applause than his opponent – used to have a frosty relationship.
But this has heated up considerably, as Kyrgios was one of the few players to publicly support Djokovic in his unsuccessful fight against his January 2022 deportation proceedings.
The two players met in the Wimbledon final last year, which saw Djokovic prevail in four sets to win his 21e Grand Slam title.
In the first round of the 2023 Australian Open, of which he is the big favourite, “Nole” will meet the Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena (75e global).