Nick Kyrgios has been invited to play the Serbian Open by the tournament director, Novak Djokovic’s bother Djordje. The 26-year-old was one of few players to vocally defend the world No 1 when he had his visa cancelled twice and was ultimately deported from Australia on the eve of the season-opening Grand Slam, and struck up an unlikely bond with Djokovic as a result.
Kyrgios is set to be out of action until the grass-court season following his loss to Jannik Sinner at the Miami Open, in a controversial match that saw the Aussie take aim at umpire Carlos Bernardes. He is still in the double draw in Miami but has already confirmed he will be skipping the clay season.
Despite his dislike for the clay, the current world No 102 has received a personal invitation to compete in the Serbia Open in Djokovic’s home of Belgrade on the week of April 18 by none other than Novak’s brother Djordje. As the tournament director of the ATP 250 event held in Djokovic’s own Novak Tennis Centre, the younger Djokovic brother admitted he wanted to “bring” Kyrgios to Belgrade in a gesture of gratitude.
“I want to bring Nick Kyrgios to Belgrade, to thank him for supporting Novak, Belgrade and Serbia,” the 26-year-old said, appearing on K1 TV show Kec na jedanaest. “He is an entertainer, he doesn’t mince his words and he will always express his opinion, whatever it may be. But above all, he is a serious athlete and tennis player. I hope that he will come to the Serbia Open before he finishes his tennis career.”
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Kyrgios defended Djokovic during his ordeal in Australia at the start of the year, when he had his visa cancelled twice and was kept in a government detention hotel for periods of his time in the country before ultimately being deported. “Look I definitely believe in taking action,” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter at the time. “I got vaccinated because of others and for my mum’s health, but how we are handling Novak’s situation is bad, really bad. Like these memes, headlines, this is one of our great champions but at the end of the day he is human. Do better.”
He also shared his humiliation at the way his home nation dealt with the 20-time Major champion, saying in an Instagram story: “I feel quite embarrassed as an Australian athlete that’s seen what this guy has done for us and the sport. I just don’t think it’s right how we’re handling it but the media loves to do that, loves to divide and I don’t want this to take away from any of the great results the other Australians are having.”
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