PA Media/DPA
London
Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios’ doubles foray came to an end with a second-round loss to top seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus at the Brisbane International.
Kyrgios and Djokovic teamed up for a crowd-pleasing first-round win on Monday but fell narrowly short of putting out the top seeds.
Kyrgios, who revealed after his singles comeback on Tuesday that he is still struggling with pain in the wrist that has kept him out for 18 months, produced two through-the-legs shots in one memorable rally, and he and Djokovic looked poised for victory at 8-6 ahead in the deciding match tie-break.
But Djokovic double-faulted and Mektic and Venus reeled off four points in a row to clinch a 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 victory.
Djokovic comfortably progressed to the second round of the singles and will take on Gael Monfils on Thursday.
Second seed Grigor Dimitrov is already through to the quarter-finals after seeing off Australian wild card Aleksandar Vukic 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
