Alex Erler in Brisbane

“I enjoyed the match against Djokovic!”

A picture for the album: Alex Erler (right) with top star Djokovic (left).(Bild: AFP/AFP or licensors)

A start to the new ATP Tour season against top tennis stars that was ultimately lost by a single mini-break: For Alexander Erler, the 4:6, 7:6 (4), 8:10 against Novak Djokovic (Ser) and Nick Kyrgios (Aus) in Brisbane was nevertheless a "mega cool experience"!

They battled for no less than 108 minutes on the packed center court of the Queensland Tennis Centre (5800 fans), fighting for every point in an extremely close match. "I think it was a really great match to watch!"

Kyrgios & Djokovic: The cheers were huge!(Bild: AFP/AFP or licensors)

In which Alexander Erler and his new doubles regular partner Andreas Mies only lost out due to a single (!) loss of serve in the Champions tie-break (2:3). "That's not the only thing that demonstrates that we were on an equal footing against the best tennis players in the world," said the 27-year-old from Kufstein with a smile on his face, "you don't notice much difference with strong service and good returns." Novak Djokovic, with 24 Grand Slam titles the most successful among the top greats, and Nick Kyrgios ("everyone thinks it's an honor to play with him - no, it's an honor to play with me"), mega-talent and Australian enfant terrible (ex-13th) - quality and experience en masse. "I can hardly say how proud I am to have even been on court against Djokovic!"

Mies and Erler - Melbourne should be the highlight.(Bild: Alexander Scheuber)

Nevertheless, there was a tear in his eye. "We had our chances to win against them in front of their crowd, but it was super-fair. That's a shame. But I enjoyed it, it was a cool experience."

Gearing up for Melbourne
Erler will help over the course of the long ATP season. He will now move to New Zealand with the veteran from Cologne (34) and try to win his first 2025 in Auckland. "The performance certainly gives us some confidence." To be well prepared for the first highlight of the season, the Australian Open in Melbourne.