Djokovic, Tabilo and Kyrgios know their way at the ATP 250 in Brisbane | ATP Tour

Brisbane

Djokovic, Tabilo and Kyrgios know their way at the ATP 250 in Brisbane

The contest will be held from December 29 to January 5

December 27, 2024

Novak Djokovic will face a tough challenge in his first match of the new season. The 37-year-old will begin his quest for a 100th tour-level title at the Brisbane International presented by Evie when he debuts against Australian Rinky Hijikata.

Djokovic, who will appear at the ATP 250 event for the first time since 2009, will play for the first time in his career against Hijikata, No. 73 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

The Serbian, world No. 7, who has not competed since reaching the final of the Rolex Shanghai Masters in October, will be the top seed in this event, and could face former world No. 6 Gael Monfils in the second round. The Frenchman will begin his season against a player from the qualifying phase.

Another of the tournament’s top seeds will be Alejandro Tabilo. The Chilean, seeded sixth, will start against a player from the previous phase with the possibility of facing a Hispanic in the second round: the winner of the duel between the Argentine Mariano Navone and the Chilean Nicolás Jarry.

Nick Kyrgios, for his part, will make his long-awaited return against Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the most improved player of the year at the 2024 ATP Awards. It promises to be a duel full of great serves between two of the best servers on the ATP Tour.

The Australian, who will be in action at tour level for the first time since Stuttgart in June 2023, won the Brisbane title in 2018 and most recently played the tournament in 2019.

Defending champion Grigor Dimitrov, who also triumphed in the competition in 2017, is the second seed and will open against a player from the qualifying phase.

A first-round match to watch will be local favorite Jordan Thompson, seeded eighth, against Matteo Berrettini. The Italian, coming off a year in which he took home Comeback Player of the Year honors, won the only Lexus ATP Head2Head matchup between the two at the 2019 US Open.