"Nick Kyrgios surprised me pleasantly" says Novak Djokovic on the Australian's support

Novak Djokovic was surprised to see Nick Kyrgios speak up for him during the trouble he faced in Melbourne.

Kyrgios is obviously a noted critic of Djokovic calling him out several times publicly for some of the stuff he did. He also admitted that Djokovic is generally not his favourite tennis player yet it was the same Kyrgios who spoke up for Djokovic during his trouble in Melbourne. He urged everyone to behave with more dignity at a time when Djokovic was kept in custody.

Speaking about some of the reactions he saw from his fellow colleagues, Djokovic said:

“I respect my colleagues and I understand that some of them didn’t want to speak up, and some of them criticised me or didn’t like the way I entered Australia. I just wish that they listened to my side of the story. But their position was not easy, there was so much attention on the whole saga, and they understandably wanted to talk about themselves and the tournament."

He then singled out a couple of players that publicly supported him including Kyrgios:

“Nick Kyrgios surprised me pleasantly, I thanked him and all of the others who stood up for me, Alize Cornet for instance. I received a lot of messages privately from some of the players, but they didn’t want to speak publicly. I understand it, the situation was complicated.”