Tennis is back on our TVs and so, dear reader, is the long-running tennis feud between Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic.
Insults are being thrown, surprise midnight commentary has been sprayed, and we're now at a point where the Australian and Serbian are just going tit for tat as the Australian Open gets underway in Melbourne.
The two tennis stars have only actually played each other twice on the court, in back-to-back tournaments in 2017. Kyrgios won both games.
Watch: On Monday, Kyrgios responded to Djokovic's recent comments about him. Post continues after video.
To understand the tension, let's go back to the start. Because boy, a lot has happened since 2019.
It all began with a podcast.
Kyrgios appeared on the No Challenges Remaining podcast in May 2019, where he said: "I just feel like he [Djokovic] has a sick obsession, wanting to be liked. He just wants to be like Roger [Federer]. He just wants to be liked so much that I just can’t stand him."
"This whole celebration thing (blowing kisses to the crowd) that he does after matches, it’s like so cringeworthy. It’s very cringeworthy," Kyrgios continued.
The men's world no. 1 initially opted to take the high road when he was inundated with questions relating to Nick Kyrgios’ podcast taunts.
Publicly Djokovic said he "wasn't losing sleep" over the claims, but eagle-eyed fans spotted the Serb 'liking' an Instagram post, which quoted John McEnroe from a BBC Radio interview saying about Kyrgios: "I don’t think he should be out there anymore unless he gives an honest effort."
In June 2019, he told Sportsklub, "What can I say to Nick Kyrgios. I really think he's not really a bad guy. I do not know why he declares all these things, whether he wants to draw attention or some motive is different."
The following month, after being eliminated from Wimbledon, the Australian sent out a subtle jab ahead of Djokovic's match with Roger Federer, tweeting: "Federer please win."
In August 2020, Djokovic told the New York Times that his intentions for the Adria Tour were "right and correct" and if he had the chance to do the tour again he "would do it again".
“I don't think I've done anything bad to be honest. I do feel sorry for people that were infected," he said.
"Scary that people take zero ownership," Kyrgios said on his Instagram story. "Group of albatrosses."
In September 2020, Djokovic was disqualified from the US Open after he hit a ball towards the back of the court and struck a line judge in the throat.
No stranger to controversial on-court moments himself, the Aussie star fired a somewhat sarcastic suggestion in Djokovic’s direction.
"Swap me for jokers incident. ‘Accidentally hitting the ball kid in the throat’ how many years would I be banned for?” Kyrgios asked on Twitter, giving fans the option of answering five, 10 or 20 years.
Now that brings us to 2021, and the controversial Australian Open that's just kicked off in Melbourne.
As charter flights started arriving in January full of tennis players and their staff, a COVID-19 scare sent many of them into a mandatory two-week quarantine.
Djokovic issued a list of demands to Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley, which included fitness material in all rooms, decent food, and relocation of "as many tennis players as possible" to private houses with tennis courts.
The demands were refused, and Kyrgios was first in line to label Djokovic "a tool".
During an interview in January 2021, Kyrgios - who is currently ranked 46 - took another swipe, telling the Herald Sun, "No matter how many majors Novak wins, he will never be the greatest to me. I played against him twice, and if he can't beat me, you are not the greatest of all time."
On Sunday, when asked about Kyrgios' ongoing criticism of him, Djokovic finally bit back.
"I think he's good for the sport," Djokovic told reporters.
"He's someone that is different and goes about his tennis and his off-court things in his own authentic way. I have respect for him. I have respect for everyone else really because everyone has a right and freedom to choose how they want to express themselves and what they want to do.
"My respect goes to him for the tennis he's playing. I think he's a very talented guy, he's got a big game and he's proven that he has a quality to beat any player in the world.
"Off the court, I don't have much respect for him to be honest. That's where I'll close it. I don't really have any further comments for him and his own comments for me or anything else he's trying to do."
Kyrgios responded by calling Djokovic a "strange cat", with the Australian saying he refuses to cop flak from a person who partied with his shirt off during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's a strange one for me," Kyrgios said.
"It actually would make complete sense to me if he was like, 'Look, I don't respect the guy on the court', because I understand if he doesn't agree with some of my antics on the court that I have done in the past.
"But I'm not quite sure how he can't respect me off the court. I feel like I've gone about things extremely well, especially during the pandemic.
"I was driving around delivering food to people during the pandemic. I was extremely careful about what I was doing. I didn't want to spread the virus to anyone.
"Now I'm actually trying to donate meal kits to people that need food. I have my foundation. So it's very strange to me as why he would say he doesn't respect me off the court. I actually do a lot off the court.
"But yeah, he's a very strange cat, Novak is. Heck of a tennis player, but unfortunately someone that's partying with his shirt off during a global pandemic. I don't know if I can take any slack from that man. That's as bad as it gets for me."
Djokovic didn't want to add more fuel to the fire when told of Kyrgios' comments.
"You can read it, but I'm not going to answer to anything," Djokovic said.
Feature image: Getty/Mamamia