Brisbane International News: Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios do not disappoint

Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic are done in doubles at the Brisbane International. Sure, the two players likely wanted to win because every competitor does, but they probably were realistic about their chances. Djokovic is the greatest men's singles player ever, but he does not play much doubles. The Serb and the Australian just wanted to get some extra work in and have fun.

They did. And tennis fans in Brisbane had fun right along with them.

The two squeaked through the first round as an unseeded team against an unseeded team. The second round was expected to be a much more difficult task against top seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus. Djokovic and Kyrgios held their own, however, and stole a set from Mektic and Venus.

Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic do not fail to entertain at the Brisbane International

The first set was one-sided as both Djokovic and Kyrgios lost on serve, but the two got the only break in the second set to force a 10-point tie-breaker. The Serb and Aussie led the tie-break at times as well, but after Djokovic double-faulted at 8-6, the duo did not win another point. The outcome was not what was the most interesting part of the match. Instead, a point in the second game of the match was.

With Venus and Mektic serving, Kyrgios and Djokovic forced a 31-shot rally in which Kyrgios turned in a couple of trick shots, one of which almost won the point. Meanwhile, Djokovic was able to return some well-paced shots in a way that few other players ever would have been able to do.

The point was the battle that mirrored the war of the match. Kyrgios and Djokovic won neither, but they showed enough to prove they might be competitive if they choose to team up again in future tournaments. Kyrgios has been a successful doubles player and won the Australian Open with Thanasi Kokkinakis. If Kyrgios plays doubles in Melbourne, he likely will do so with Kokkinakis.

Still, if Kyrgios and Djokovic find themselves at tournaments and Kokkinakis is not involved, then the Serb and Aussie could pair up again. That would be great for tennis fans.

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