There will be a reinstallment of the 2014 doubles title match during round-robin competition at the upcoming World Tour Finals. That much was guaranteed when the draw ceremony was held on Monday afternoon in London. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, the WTF title winners two years ago, are in the same group as Marcelo Melo and Ivan Dodig. Melo and Dodig finished runner-up to the Bryans in 2014, losing 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-7 in the championship match.
Neither pairing is expected to make it back to the final next week. The Bryan brothers have dipped to No. 3 in the rankings, while Dodig and Melo register at No. 6. Joining Bryan-Bryan and Dodig-Melo in Group B at this year’s World Tour Finals are Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares and Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi.
A rematch of the recent Paris Masters final is also on tap in London. Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who had not secured a spot in London prior to their arrival in Paris, went all the way to the winners’ trophy. They beat the world No. 1 duo of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 last weekend. As a result, the Finnish-Australian paring climbed to No. 5 in the race.
“It was amazing to actually get the first Masters title for both of us,” Peers assured. “I know we’ve put in a lot of hard work together and it’s something to cap off a really good year, just before we head into London.”
Herbert and Mahut were ousted during round-robin action at the 2015 year-end tournament but they look poised to make amends for that blemish this time around. The Frenchmen won back-to-back Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Miami and they also triumphed at Wimbledon. French Open champions Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez join Herbert-Mahut and Kontinen-Peers in Group A, as do Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.
“We know all the teams quite well,” Herbert noted. “The teams are all very good and all the matches will be very tight.”
Group Fleming/McEnroe
1) Pierre Hugues-Herbert and Nicolas Mahut
4) Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez
5) Henri Kontinen and John Peers
7) Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram
Group Edberg/Jarryd
2) Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares
3) Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan
6) Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo
8) Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi
[polldaddy poll=9573826]
who ya got?
Herbert (and Mahut) will win.
#Obviously
Herbert abd Mahut!
#NID
Murray and soares because Jamie Murray home support. Doubles really hard to predict imo though.
Unless Nadal is playing with ‘anyone’ against any team.
Gonna say Kontinen and Peers because they were pretty good lately, but predicting doubles is basically flipping a coin.
Never even try to ‘guess’ let alone ‘predict’ 🙁
But this is what makes doubles so much fun to watch 🙂
It’s gonna be great doubles action….hope it’s all on tv!…Bryans come back f the dead to win!
I love ‘trying’ to predict doubles , but nearly impossible at the O2 with the court conditions and RR format. Dodig/Melo have a great chance though 🙂