“I’ll be playing with Santiago Gonzalez from the beginning of the year – that’s a definite deal,” reveals Austria’s doubles specialist Lucas Miedler in an interview LAOLA1.
The 41-year-old Mexican is anything but a bad handler. He is currently ranked 45th in the world. Although he is only two positions ahead of Miedler in the ATP rankings, just a year ago the 1.91 meter tall right-hander was number seven in the world.
Miedler hopes for a long-term solution
He achieved this alongside Edouard Roger-Vasselin. However, because the Frenchman wanted to try it with compatriot Nicolas Mahut because of the Olympic Games in Paris, the successful pairing at the time fell apart. After a mixed 2024 season for Gonzalez, the 2017 French Open finalist now wants to build on successful times again with Miedler.
“It will of course depend on the results, but I would be happy if it lasted for a longer period of time,” said the 28-year-old from Lower Austria. “The first two months are now relatively fixed. But in between I will definitely play the Davis Cup.”
The season starts in Hong Kong in the first week of January. Afterwards there is another preparatory tournament on the program before we go to the Australian Open in Melbourne.
“The first two weeks are certainly a kind of getting-to-know-you phase on the court. We will have to adapt our game because the processes are a little different. Then hopefully we will be ready enough at the Australian Open so that we can compete for a few wins there can.”
That’s why Gonzalez instead of Haase
Compared to his long-term partner Alex Erler, who will try out the German Andreas Mies next year, Miedler doesn’t expect any major changes: “It will of course be a bit of an adjustment. Both are big and serve well. Alex will be at The basic strokes have a little more power, but the Santi will perhaps perform a little better at the net. In principle, the only difference is that the Santi does not have the same strokes from the back as the Alex But I don’t change that much.”
The fact that Miedler will now try it out with Gonzalez and not with Robin Haase, as announced at the Erste Bank Open in the Wiener Stadthalle, is due to another canceled ATP rule change. The grid of doubles tournaments in Australia should have been reduced from 24 to 16. As a result, Miedler and Haase, who is only ranked 70th in the world, would probably not have made it into the main field.
Santiago Gonzalez was number 7 in the world in November 2023
Foto: © getty
Meanwhile, there was the request from Gonzalez. “I wanted to see whether I could make it even further forward with Robin at the 250cc in Metz at the beginning of November. But that was over because we lost in the first round,” explains Miedler, who usually likes to try it out with Haase would have.
“I’m sorry for Robin that it turned out that way, but otherwise I would have sat there all December and wouldn’t have known whether I would get into the tournaments or not. But I couldn’t wait forever with Santi because he was someone else “It’s obviously more relaxed to plan.”
Curious development on the side: “In the end, the ATP increased the grid again to 24 and it would have worked out with Robin. You can always plan well with them. But I’m happy with how it is now.” Haase will likely play alongside Kazakh Aleksandr Nedovysevov in 2025.
Former world number one asked
Shortly after the decision in favor of the 23-time ATP title holder Gonzalez, there was an even more prominent request. The coach of former world number one Rohan Bopanna asked Julian Knowle, who looked after Erler/Miedler last year, whether Miedler would still be looking for a partner for 2025. “But if it’s a deal, it’s a deal for me. I only changed Robin because there was this thing with the grid.”
Of course, it is always a sign of recognition when players of this class are interested in working together. The doubles world has fundamentally mixed up a lot in the coming season.
“An extremely large number of pairings have broken up, which means a lot has shifted,” said Miedler, who sees Arevalo/Pavic and Krawietz/Pütz at the top in 2025. “Then there will certainly be one or two of the new pairings that aren’t on our radar yet. Vlichen/Ebden are certainly dangerous. I’m excited to see who will prevail at the beginning of the year: Salisbury/Skupsky, Ram/Krajicek There are also a lot of Grand Slam winners who you always have to keep an eye on and who are at a good level. Hopefully we’ll hit something too.”
The cards will be reshuffled in 2025
So the cards will be reshuffled in 2025. Miedler, who has seven ATP titles to his name to date, has not set any specific goals due to this initial situation. “If you don’t play well, you don’t have a chance anyway, but as an unseeded player you can of course draw the right calibers three times. You can’t assume that you’ll win three times.”
“I’m really happy now that I’m in the current situation. Things really didn’t look good before Antwerp,” Miedler remembers. At that time he was still in 68th place in the ATP rankings before tournament victories in Antwerp and Vienna alongside Erler pushed him back up. The pressure at that time has now been forgotten. “That’s why I don’t stress about it so much.”
Everyday life as a tennis professional is enough planned anyway. After a two-week break including a one-week vacation, Miedler has been back in full training with coach Wolfgang Thiem in Traiskirchen for the past two weeks. The plane to Asia takes off on December 25th.
“It will definitely be exciting. It’s a new chapter – let’s see where it takes us.”
Victories, dramas and legends – 50 years of town hall tennis
What do you think of this article?