SMASH HIT

Djokovic charms fans but Kyrgios has the last laugh

- NEIL MCLEMAN

IT WAS a charity match love-in staged before the Australian Open and Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios were both winners.

Nine-time champion Djokovic was given a hero's welcome on his "emotional" return to the Rod Laver Arena after his deportation last January.

And Australian No.1 Kyrgios, who has also never been far from controversy Down Under, helped rehabilitate his reputation in a perfect PR evening full of smiles, laughs, and tweeners.

Just like when Bobby Ewing emerged from the shower in Dallas a year after being killed off, it was if the last 12 months had never happened.

And no one the event, the players and even the Australian public - seem to want to remember or relive what really happened here.

Tournament director Craig Tiley, who tried to get the unvaccinated Djokovic into the country on a medical exemption, is still in place, while this match sold out in only 58 minutes.