Kyrgios and Djokovic begin Brisbane campaign with doubles victory

Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic kicked off their 2025 tennis seasons with a thrilling doubles victory against Alexander Erler and Andreas Mies at the Brisbane International on Monday night.

Playing together for the first time, the high-profile duo delivered plenty of highlight-worthy moments. They claimed a hard-fought win, edging out Erler and Mies 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-8 in an hour and 48 minutes.

“It was amazing, thank you all for coming, the atmosphere was great,” Djokovic said after the match.

“Nick said it should be a pleasure for me to play with him, and it was. I haven’t played many doubles in my life, especially in the last few years, so I listened to everything he told me.”

Kyrgios and Djokovic dominated the majority of the match, creating six break opportunities and maintaining serve with relative ease.

However, their opponents refused to back down, claiming the second set in a tiebreak to force a deciding match tiebreak.

Kyrgios sealed the match with an ace, later sharing his thoughts on playing alongside Djokovic.

“I was surprised that he doubted himself at times,” Kyrgios said.

“I said to myself, ‘You’re the best of all time, go ahead, do what you want!’”

The pair’s next challenge will be against top-seeded Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus.

Despite the tough matchup, tennis betting sites have installed Kyrgios and Djokovic as slight favourites to advance.

In addition to their doubles success, both Kyrgios and Djokovic are set to start their singles campaigns on Tuesday.

Kyrgios will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, while Djokovic is heavily favored in his clash with Rinky Hijikata.

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