Nick Kyrgios and his good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis are set to face each other in the first round of the US Open on August 29.
The two players have enjoyed a strong friendship with each other over the years and are partners for the doubles competition. However, only one of the pair will be advancing to the next stage of the singles.
“We get along off the court well and I think the fans and everyone on TV can see that friendship. It’s authentic. We just have fun out there and the crowd gets behind it…,” said Kokkinakis about his friendship with Kyrgios, as per Tennis Australia.
The two players, also called the “Special Ks’ when playing doubles with each other, have not played against each other on the main tour. The two times they played were lower-level encounters in 2003 and 2004 where Kyrgios won both times.
Kyrgios is the favorite to win the matchup, especially since he is coming off a run to the Wimbledon final and a victory in Washington. Besides the match against his friend, Kyrgios has a tough bracket ahead of him.
If he wins the matchup against Kokkinakis, he will most likely face Ugo Humbert in the second round and Roberto Bautista Agut in the third. Assuming he wins all the matches, he has a chance of facing the defending champion, Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev is also currently the highest-ranked player in the world and the top seed for Russia.
Luckily for all the players in the bracket, Novak Djokovic will not be participating in the tournament. This is due to the restrictions the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) placed on foreign travelers, mandating that they be fully vaccinated before being allowed to enter the United States.
The Serbian player is currently unvaccinated but was holding out on the chance that the restrictions were relaxed, as the CDC did so for citizens. Djokovic has missed out on large events in the past such as the Australian Open but remains firm in his stance to remain unvaccinated.
“Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open. Thank you #NoleFam for your messages of love and support,” wrote Djokovic on Twitter.
“Good luck to my fellow players! I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again. See you soon tennis world!”
Other matchups
Besides the duel between the Special Ks, Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata will face four-time champion, Rafael Nadal. Hijikata is the clear underdog in this match as he is ranked 198 in the world while Nadal is ranked 3. Though the situation looks grim for Hijikita, pulling off an upset here could skyrocket his rank and put a lot more eyes on the wildcard player.
Other exciting matchups include Alex de Minaur vs Filip Krajinovic and James Duckworth vs Chris O’Connell. Minaur is ranked 20 while Krajinovic is ranked 45 but peaked at rank 26. Duckworth and O’Connell only have a rank difference of 13 with Duckworth at 84 and O’Connel at 97.