{"id":76943,"date":"2024-12-28T00:41:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T05:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=76943"},"modified":"2024-12-29T01:41:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T06:41:15","slug":"djokovic-kyrgios-headline-atp-brisbane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/12\/28\/djokovic-kyrgios-headline-atp-brisbane\/","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios Headline ATP Brisbane 250 Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With a precious few opportunities available to prepare for the 2025 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, the opening week of the ATP World Tour features a strong 250 level tournament in Brisbane, Australia, as players have the opportunity to adjust to the conditions of the Australian summer. The Brisbane International is one of the best tournaments on the calendar every year, and this year&#8217;s draw features some engaging matchups in the early rounds.<\/p>\n<p>37 year old Novak Djokovic is the top seed, Djokovic hasn&#8217;t played since Shanghai due to an &#8220;ongoing injury&#8221;, and this tournament will be a key fitness test ahead of the Australian Open, a tournament he has dominated throughout his illustrious career. The Serbian superstar has moved past being<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-australia-60014059\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> deported from Australia<\/a> in 2022 due to his vaccination status and is looking to bounce back in 2025, as he didn&#8217;t win a Grand Slam last year or an ATP title (but he did win Olympic Gold). Djokovic has partnered with the recently retired <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/12\/04\/novak-djokovic-andy-murray-brisbane-international\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Andy Murray as his new coach<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2187272186\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 68.181816% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2187272186?et=Cr1IaAXOTYNLelkQIS3l_g&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=WgYfIpbVqo4KBak52N12fEk7g9xwcDkdArzEaZHJ6zA=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"405\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Djokovic&#8217;s has a credible first round opponent, Australian Rinky Hijikata reached a career high ranking of #62 in 2024, , the 23 year old won 16 ATP level matches last season and lifted a Challenger Tour title, playing at home, he won&#8217;t give Djokovic an inch, though an upset is unlikely unless Djokovic remains significantly out of fitness and form. The ageless 38 year old Gael Monfils or a qualifier is up next in round 2, Australia&#8217;s hope Alexei Popyrin is likely in the quarterfinals. Now a top 25 player, Popyrin won 26 tour level matches in 2024 and lifted a Masters 1000 title in Canada. Reilly Opelka continues his effort to come back from injuries and would be a possible opponent for Popyrin in round 2. Popyrin vs Djokovic would be a compelling quarterfinal, as Popyrin stunned Djokovic at the 2024 US Open.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Alexei Popyrin vs. Novak Djokovic Extended Highlights | 2024 US Open Round 3\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Q2GAH7M6IDg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Frances Tiafoe and Seb Korda would be lined up to face off in the quarterfinals of the second section, Tiafoe concluded a fourth consecutive season of 30+ wins and made two ATP finals, Korda was 32-19 in 2024 and did lift an ATP title in 2024, the slightly younger Korda is one of the many American talents with ambitions of competing for a Grand Slam. Tiafoe&#8217;s first round opponent, Australian Adam Walton, won 42 Challenger Tour matches in 2024, while Korda&#8217;s first round opponent Arthur Cazaux is a 22 year old that broke through into the top 70 in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The highlight of this section is the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/kyrgios-brisbane-international-7efd50cc758f8cbcc137d7c60ea20c20\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">return of Nick Kyrgios<\/a>, Kyrgios, one of the best servers in men&#8217;s tennis in his prime, takes on fellow big server Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the 21 year old won two ATP and three ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2024 and is very tough to stop. Kyrgios, a former tournament champion, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/12\/28\/nick-kyrgios-the-enigma-returns\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">hasn&#8217;t competed in three years<\/a>, was always seen as a talent, but struggling with motivation, mental health, and physical fitness that held back his career achievements, a lot of attention will be on his opening round match against Perricard, though expectations are quite limited given the injuries that sidelined his career previously. It&#8217;s quite possible that Perricard will serve well enough to advance from this section.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WgP85g5rJeE<\/p>\n<p>Holger Rune as the #3 seed will be a considerable favorite to reach the quarterfinals, Rune put together three consecutive seasons of 40+ ATP wins, and was a finalist last year at this tournament. Jiri Lehecka his first round opponent won 30+ ATP matches and an ATP title for the second consecutive season and is far from an easy opponent to start with. Alejandro Tabilo the #6 seed had a career year in 2024 but prefers clay, his countryman Nicolas Jarry might be next in round 2 after a qualifier, Jarry faces Mariano Navone in round 1 in a section of the draw where the players prefer clay.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Holger Rune vs Grigor Dimitrov For The Title! \ud83c\udfc6 | Brisbane Final 2024 Match Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/REfGTh5SZ4g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Rune could get a rematch of last year&#8217;s final in the semis if #2 seed Grigor Dimitrov is at his best, Dimitrov&#8217;s 46 wins in 2024 was his most since 2017, the 33 year old reached three ATP finals after winning Brisbane last year, and he has a lot of points to defend this season. Australia&#8217;s Aleksandar Vukic had a career year with 22 ATP level wins in 2024, while 34 year old David Goffin, his first round opponent, is still fighting to return to the ATP top 50. Former top 10 player Matteo Berrettini was 36-13 in 2024, home Australian Jordan Thompson has a very difficult round 1 match against him, as Thompson got no favors for being a career high ranking of #26 to start the year. Thompson&#8217;s 36-25 record in 2024 was far and above his best season and he did win an ATP title. 20 year old Alex Michelsen is at a career high of #41, if he beats Christopher O&#8217;Connell he faces the Thompson\/Berrettini winner in a very competitive part of the draw.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2182380638\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2182380638?et=C4ignZSwSw9BjMQTNvIyUg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=dd1OJkdbTXsshChmglEbWEAWJyN3Axy9hDJE-MBpIEE=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The bottom half of the draw could see a number of names emerge as the finalist, with the home player Thompson likely to get the most fan support (and Berrettini could spoil it all if he continues his great form), while a Dimitrov vs Rune final rematch is predicted for the semis. The top half of the draw is all about Djokovic&#8217;s fitness, Mpetshi Perricard&#8217;s form, and if Korda or Tiafoe catch fire as American hopes. The 2025 Brisbane International promises to be an exciting tournament with tough matches from round 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a precious few opportunities available to prepare for the 2025 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, the opening week of the ATP World Tour features a strong 250 level tournament in Brisbane, Australia, as players have the opportunity to adjust to the conditions of the Australian summer. The Brisbane International is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1442,"featured_media":51969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[3970,2307,259,2259,2309,348,144,18755,411,7605,1661,1694,209,22,19,17113,8147],"class_list":["post-76943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atp","category-featured","tag-alexei-popyrin","tag-atp-brisbane","tag-atp-tour","tag-atp-world-tour","tag-brisbane-international","tag-frances-tiafoe","tag-gael-monfils","tag-giovanni-mpetshi-perricard","tag-grigor-dimitrov","tag-holger-rune","tag-jordan-thompson","tag-matteo-berrettini","tag-nick-kyrgios","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-reilly-opelka","tag-rinky-hijikata","tag-sebastian-korda"],"modified_by":"Steen Kirby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76943"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76985,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76943\/revisions\/76985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}