"WWE you think there is room for Novak Djokovic and myself?" - Nick Kyrgios responds to Serb's proposal to play doubles with him

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated local favorite Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday (January 17). Following his victory, the Serb spoke in a post-match interview with Nick Kyrgios, who is working as a commentator for Eurosport this fortnight amid an injury lay-off.

Djokovic was in high spirits as he and host Barbara Schett Eagle beckoned Kyrgios to make his much-awaited 2024 comeback. The 10-time Melbourne titlist went as far as to suggest that they should play doubles someday.

Novak Djokovic's enthusiasm seemingly rubbed off on Kyrgios as well. The Aussie asserted that he was willing to go "WWE" on the rowdy Melbourne crowd to ensure that the 36-year-old would enjoy himself on the court. This was in reference to the Serb's altercation with a heckler at the Rod Laver Arena earlier on Wednesday.

"Bro I'm ready, let's do WWE in the crowd," Kyrgios said in reply to the Serb's proposal of playing doubles. "I'll jump in for you, I'll go first, I'll get that guy out of here."

The 24-time Major winner was left in splits after hearing the Aussie's response, suggesting that he would be ready with popcorn if the above scenario occurred.

"Oh man, I'd love that, get popcorn and watch that," the Serb said.

Nick Kyrgios later took to X (formerly Twitter) to endorse the potential pairing, hilariously tagging WWE's social media handle in his message.

"I’m down, WWE you think there is room for @DjokerNole & myself?" the 28-year-old wrote on X.

"Why are you so mean to us Aussies?" - Nick Kyrgios asks Novak Djokovic after the latter's Australian Open 2R win

Novak Djokovic and Alexei Popyrin greet each other at the net following their match.

Novak Djokovic was also made aware of a rather interesting statistic during his interaction with Nick Kyrgios. With his win over Alexei Popyrin, the 36-year-old has now won 14 of his 15 matches against Australian players at the Majors.

The 28-year-old was admittedly bewildered by the Serb's almost-flawless record against his fellow Aussies, asking him why he was "so mean" to them.

"So, Novak, first of all, you played a lot better than me. If I was sick, I wouldn't have been able to win that. But my question is to you, what's with you and beating Australians," Kyrgios said with a smile. "You are now 14-1 in Grand Slams, what's wrong with you, why are you so mean to us Aussies."

For academic purposes, the only Aussie that has downed Djokovic in a Grand Slam match is Lleyton Hewitt (2006 US Open). The Serb's memory was sharp enough to recount losing convincingly to the former World No. 1 back then.

"Wait, who did I lose to in Grand Slams? You [Kyrgios] beat me, but not in Slams. De Minaur beat me a few weeks ago in Perth. Oh yeah, Lleyton [Hewitt], I lost to Lleyton back in 05 or 06 at the US Open, he chopped me up, as you Aussies love to say," the 36-year-old said.

Djokovic will be looking to reach the second week in Melbourne when he takes on 30th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Friday. Kyrgios, meanwhile, is yet to reveal a definitive return date and has only played one singles match since October 2022.