Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic will rekindle their bromance when they complete their Australian Open preparations with a ticketed exhibition match at Rod Laver Arena.

The pair once had a testy relationship but that thawed after Kyrgios was one of Djokovic’s staunchest supporters during last year’s deportation saga and became close during their runs to last year’s Wimbledon final.

In Friday night’s ‘Perfect Practice’, Kyrgios and Djokovic will play for 75 minutes under match conditions, with umpires, ballkids and electronic line-calling.

Tennis Australia (TA) is charging $20 for tickets, with proceeds going towards the Australian Tennis Foundation.

TA has delivered high-profile practice matches as part of this year’s decision to charge adults $10 and kids $5 to attend qualifying, which had previously been free entry.

Kyrgios pulled out of the United Cup and Adelaide International 2 due to an ankle injury and it has clouded his lead-up to the Open.

“Nick is focused on doing the best he can,” tournament director Craig Tiley told reporters. 

“He wants to win grand slams, so he’s giving himself the best opportunity to prepare and Friday night will be a really good practice match for him, as it will be for Novak. 

“That’s going to be a fun night to really launch the beginning of the year and he’ll be ready.”

Tiley was confident Djokovic, who will play Daniil Medvedev in another practice match on Wednesday, would receive a good reception in Melbourne, saying fans “appreciate greatness”.

“I’m pretty confident that the fans of Melbourne, similar to the experience that he had in Adelaide, will be just as good,” he said.