Pics: Djokovic is back, and Brisbane has him

–

BRISBANE, Australia – It’s been a hot minute since Novak Djokovic was on a tennis court.

The last time was in Shanghai, where he beat a good crew of younger players, then Taylor Fritz in the semifinals before losing to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final.

That was only the second time since his shock loss to Alexei Popyrin in the third round of the US Open; the other was a match against an unknown Greek player during Serbia’s Davis Cup zonal tie against Greece.

So as the 37-year-old arrived on the stadium court in Pat Rafter Arena Saturday, he touched the court, and sent a kiss up to the skies to commemorate his return. He looked to be in great spirits.

The Serb just missed Nick Kyrgios, who had practice on the court before him; they were due to cross paths on the changeover, but Djokovic arrived about a half hour later than scheduled. The two will play doubles this week in Brisbane, which should be a major crowd-pleaser.

Djokovic practiced with Jakub Mensik, a tall Czech literally half his age who just broke into the top 50 at the end of 2024, and who took Djokovic to three sets in the quarterfinals of that Shanghai event.

Here’s what it looked like.

It was hot and humid on Saturday in Brisbane, even at 5 p.m.; after just five minutes of hitting with Djokovic Mensik already was rubbing the ice bags on his face. Both made good use of the ice towels.

And given that the shadows and sun in Pat Rafter Arena are tough at that time – it’s a “covered” court, but is open on the sides – you suspect Djokovic will make a request not to be scheduled around that time.

He probably doesn’t have to worry, though; his matches here have “night session” written all over them.

As had already been announced, new coach Andy Murray is not joining him in Brisbane for the prep. So he was surrounded by his usual crew.

Murray retirement shortlived: he’ll coach Djoko in Oz

Djokovic, who is the No. 1 seed despite his ranking having dropped to No. 7, drew Aussie wild card Rinky Hijikata in the first round. If he gets through that he could get Gaël Monfils.

And if he gets through that, he could get No. 7 seed Alexei Popyrin – who beat him at the US Open – or possibly huge-serving American Reilly Opelka.

We’ll here more from him in the next few days, for sure.