“I (pay) my team hundreds and thousands of dollars to be the professionals they are, to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Kyrgios said. “So they knew it happened. Why did they wait five to six months to do anything about it? He kept his team for five months … that doesn’t make sense.”
Kyrgios will take on 21-year-old Giovanni Perricard of France in the first round in Brisbane.
It will be the first tour-level appearance by Kyrgios since the Stuttgart Open in June 2023. Kyrgios has been mostly sidelined with career-threatening wrist and knee injuries since the 2022 U.S. Open quarterfinals.
Kyrgios is also entered in the Australian Open beginning Jan. 12. It would be his first Grand Slam singles tournament in more than two years.
Kyrgios, who won the Brisbane International in 2018, will partner Novak Djokovic in doubles in Brisbane. Djokovic beat Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon singles final.
Djokovic is the No. 1-seeded player at the Brisbane International and will play Australia’s Rinky Hijikata in the opening round following the singles draw held Saturday.
Kyrgios and Djokovic are in the top half of the singles draw and are not slated to play each other until the semifinals should they both win through.
