Djokovic hires Australian tennis guru

NOVAK Djokovic has hired Australian tennis analyst Craig O’Shannessy as he targets a seventh Melbourne Park title next month.

US-based O’Shannessy joins Djokovic’s new-look support team led by Andre Agassi and recently retired Radek Stepanek.

O’Shannessy works in several different parts of the tennis community, mostly through the use of data to drill into match patterns and trends.

He famously helped Dustin Brown orchestrate a stun- ning 2015 Wimbledon upset of Rafael Nadal.

The New South Welshman also works for the ATP Tour.

He spent time last week with Djokovic during the former world champion’s training camp in Monte Carlo.

O’Shannessy described the Monaco experience as “certainly one of the highlights of my coaching career.”

The stats guru will rejoin Djokovic at the January 15-28 Australian Open.

Djokovic is set to resume at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships exhibi- tion in Abu Dhabi on December 28. He will also contest the ATP Tour event in Doha.

Djokovic has not played competitively since July, when he dropped the curtain on a troubled season because of recurring elbow problems.

Nick Kyrgios is due to kickstart his Australian summer circuit preparations by facing Juan Martin del Potro in an exhibition event in Argentina. The Canberran’s first domestic tournament is the Brisbane International next month.