Return of the Jester

Are you ready for some drama/entertainment?

Let's see if Kyrgios will be able to play more tennis this year! He opened 2025 in Brisbane as well and was never really able to get going, just playing a couple of matches the entire year. We saw him play in the exhibition against Sabalenka (take from that what you will), and he's also been speaking a bit in the last days. He mentions that he feels ready to start, that he has a desire to prove himself, and that he is feeling better than he did a year ago, also not feeling as stressed as before. Words are words, but that's quite a positive message, especially from someone like Nick (of course, we have to see how it holds up if the "going gets tough").

Facing Kovacevic in the first round, not too bad. As you can imagine, this will most likely be heavily serve-oriented, especially when you have someone with the serve on Kyrgios on these fast courts, and while Kovacevic's serve is not as big, Kyrgios might not be the sharpest on return after such a long absence. Kovacevic has a pretty standard game... good serve, good forehand, decent net play, and everything else is average or on the weaker side. Overall, I would say he is quite an average player, and he has struggled to really establish himself on the main tour. Ultimately, this match will come down almost entirely to the level that Kyrgios brings. We saw him play Mpetshi Perricard close here last year, and while Kovacevic is better from the baseline, his serve is also more vulnerable! Could Kyrgios surprise some people, or has his level dropped too much with all the injuries/time off...?