2024 Doubles talk

[ey039524]

I'm starting a new doubles thread for the year for these smaller tournaments that might not need their own thread.

The final in Miami was close between the top two seeds Bopanna/Ebden and Dodig/Krajicek. Dodig/Krajicek were lucky to even make the final, considering they were down 3-7 in the match tiebreak in the semis vs Krawetz/Puetz and ended up escaping 10-7.

I saw these top seeded teams practice together last month at IW, and it was just as high quality as the match yesterday. Cool to see live in the first row.

There's not a lot separating the top teams right now. Most matches end in a match TB, decided by only a couple of points by whoever gets momentum or executes on the critical points.

I don't see any great teams dominating like the Bryans in the near future. This might be an issue for the popularity of doubles bc teams are constantly changing, which makes it hard for fair weather fans to get behind.

 

[BenC]

Congrats to Kenin/BMS on the Miami dubs title, taking out the #1 seed Hsieh/Mertens and USO champions Dabrowski/Routliffe along the way.

 

[Seth]

Hate to see Withrow and Lammons lose in Dallas. They both played college ball in TX.

 

[ey039524]

I saw that Ram/Krajicek lost first round, despite having the top seed. That doesn't bode well for Paris Olympics or Davis cup, although they've played well together in past ties.

 

[ey039524]

Monte Carlo upsets update:
Both #1 and 2 seeds are out (Bopanna/Ebden and Dodig/Krajicek). Same w/ #5 and #7 (Skupski/Gonzalez and Koolhof/Mektic).

 

[ey039524]

Gille/Vliegen have taken out #3 Granollers/Zeballos, so none of the seeds are left.

 

[ey039524]

Gille/Vliegen are going to be a tough team in the near future. They took out a lot of big teams on their way to the title in MC.

It looks like Skupski/Gonzalez are already calling it quits this year. They are playing w different partners in Barcelona.

 

[nounforcederrors]

The Machac/Zhang pairing is promising. They took out Spanish clay players Carballes/Munar today on their own soil in Barcelona.
In February, Machac/Zhang won the Marseille 250, taking out respectable teams like Frantzen/Jebens and Heliovaara/Peers on the way.
I hope they stay with doubles as a team.

 

[ey039524]

The Machac/Zhang pairing is promising. They took out Spanish clay players Carballes/Munar today on their own soil in Barcelona.
In February, Machac/Zhang won the Marseille 250, taking out respectable teams like Frantzen/Jebens and Heliovaara/Peers on the way.
I hope they stay with doubles as a team.

They also went deep in the AO and took out some top seeds. Machac was on fire that tournament.

 

[nounforcederrors]

They have a great synergy, they're good problem solvers on the run. About as much fun to watch as Hsieh in her prime.

 

[nounforcederrors]

Some of the older chaps who were dependable and even top tenners a decade ago, have lately shown dwindling sparks of their former selves. Melo or Mahut, for instance, still play, but at a significantly lower level now, as a rule.

Of that era, a decade ago, Dodig is keeping up better with his former levels of play, better than most others of his era.
I miss Henri Kontinen in his prime, he was another miracle returner.
And the great Dolgopolov/Malisse match of Indian Wells 2011, when Dolgo achieved masterful "gets" that defied laws of physics and beat Federer/Wawrinka. That one'a classic.

 

[ey039524]

Some of the older chaps who were dependable and even top tenners a decade ago, have lately shown dwindling sparks of their former selves. Melo or Mahut, for instance, still play, but at a significantly lower level now, as a rule.

Of that era, a decade ago, Dodig is keeping up better with his former levels of play, better than most others of his era.
I miss Henri Kontinen in his prime, he was another miracle returner.
And the great Dolgopolov/Malisse match of Indian Wells 2011, when Dolgo achieved masterful "gets" that defied laws of physics and beat Federer/Wawrinka. That one'a classic.

Melo just made the final at MC.

 

[socallefty]

Yuki Bhambri wins the Munich Open doubles title coached by my old college friend.

Yuki Bhambri wins ATP 250 BMW Open men's doubles title

Yuki and Albano defeated Jan-Lennard Struff and Andreas Mies of Germany 7-6(6) 7-6(5) to win the men's doubles title in Munich.

thebridge.in

 

[ey039524]

New dubs format trial in Madrid. Condensed to 5 days, Tues-sat. 15 sec serve clock, shorter breaks, crowd can come/go during play. Supposed to make it more exciting. Bryan bros said on Andy's podcast that they want the names on the backs of shirts, like jerseys. How many jerseys would fans buy if tennis did this?

 

[LastMile]

New dubs format trial in Madrid. Condensed to 5 days, Tues-sat. 15 sec serve clock, shorter breaks, crowd can come/go during play. Supposed to make it more exciting. Bryan bros said on Andy's podcast that they want the names on the backs of shirts, like jerseys. How many jerseys would fans buy if tennis did this?

Yuk. As if doubles haven't been marginalized enough.
I'd like some respect shown for doubles matches and players.
They're often the most entertaining matches of the tournament.

 

[LastMile]

Lately, Ram & Salisbury are playing with other partners. In Madrid coming up will be Skupski with fellow Brit Salisbury and Melo with Ram...
Could it be that S&S want to get a good feel for their court chemistry before maybe representing the UK in the Olympics?

 

[ey039524]

Lately, Ram & Salisbury are playing with other partners. In Madrid coming up will be Skupski with fellow Brit Salisbury and Melo with Ram...
Could it be that S&S want to get a good feel for their court chemistry before maybe representing the UK in the Olympics?

Yeah, possibly for the Olympics. But for a master's level tournament, they're jeopardizing making the year end finals. Last year, they went on an insane winning streak at the US open to save their year.

Since Skupski is splitting w Gonzalez, maybe Salisbury and ram are done, too.

Where'd you find the draw?

 

[travlerajm]

Yeah, possibly for the Olympics. But for a master's level tournament, they're jeopardizing making the year end finals. Last year, they went on an insane winning streak at the US open to save their year.

Since Skupski is splitting w Gonzalez, maybe Salisbury and ram are done, too.

Where'd you find the draw?

It was on the entry list.

 

[Seth]

Skupski/Gonzalez sure didn’t last long.

 

[AM75]

New dubs format trial in Madrid. Condensed to 5 days, Tues-sat. 15 sec serve clock, shorter breaks, crowd can come/go during play. Supposed to make it more exciting. Bryan bros said on Andy's podcast that they want the names on the backs of shirts, like jerseys. How many jerseys would fans buy if tennis did this?

ATP just wants to get rid of doubles, doesn’t it? This way ATP and sponsors don’t have to feed additional players and can concentrate their money on profitable singles players. What a shame.

 

[ey039524]

ATP just wants to get rid of doubles, doesn’t it? This way ATP and sponsors don’t have to feed additional players and can concentrate their money on profitable singles players. What a shame.

What's interesting is how the changes are supported by the doubles players. I read quotes by ebden and Koolhof saying how they are excited about the new format.

Well, the draw is finally out. Some interesting pairings:
Koolhof and griekspoor. Tough first round for granollers/zeballos. Not sure why mektic isn't playing this masters.

Molteini/peers. Likewise, not sure where Gonzalez is this masters. Peers should play w Skupski, instead of both of them doing the musical chairs of partners.

Bublik/shapavolav, Medvedev/Paul, Zhang/karatsev are some interesting singles pairs.

As mentioned, Salisbury/Skupski and Melo/ram are interesting dubs switch ups.

I also saw somewhere that Salisbury/ram are playing together in Rome, so they're not done as a team. Skupski will play w Krajicek in Rome. Crazy how established teams are ok w switching for a master's level tournament.

 

[ey039524]

Upsets galore in Madrid:
#1 seeds Bopanna/ebden are out. Same w #3 Dodig/Krajicek. Ram/Melo out, too. All I can recall at the moment.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Granollers/Zeballos set to become #1 in the doubles. I think they might go down as the worst #1 in doubles history.

The pair have never won a slam (so we have another slamless #1) and they only currently have ONE active title to their name which was the Shanghai Masters.

They however have the following runner ups in the last 12 months:
Indian Wells - 1000
Argentina - 250
Auckland - 250
ATP Finals
Wimbledon
Geneva - 250

Meanwhile:
Ebden/Bopanna hold the Australian Open and Miami.
Ram/Salisbury hold the US Open, ATP Finals, Vienna, Adelaide and Lyon.
Koolhof/Skupski hold Wimbledon, Indian Wells, Rotterdam, Auckland and Rosmalen.
Dodig/Krajicek hold French Open, Queens and Beijing.

 

[ey039524]

Granollers/Zeballos set to become #1 in the doubles. I think they might go down as the worst #1 in doubles history.

The pair have never won a slam (so we have another slamless #1) and they only currently have ONE active title to their name which was the Shanghai Masters.

They however have the following runner ups in the last 12 months:
Indian Wells - 1000
Argentina - 250
Auckland - 250
ATP Finals
Wimbledon
Geneva - 250

Meanwhile:
Ebden/Bopanna hold the Australian Open and Miami.
Ram/Salisbury hold the US Open, ATP Finals, Vienna, Adelaide and Lyon.
Koolhof/Skupski hold Wimbledon, Indian Wells, Rotterdam, Auckland and Rosmalen.
Dodig/Krajicek hold French Open, Queens and Beijing.

The 27 min tiebreaker they won was epic. Nys was cramping and could barely move. At the end, zeballos started to cramp.

Granollers/Zeballos should've won Wimbledon in '22, but got robbed on a routine put away volley/smash and were called for going over the net, yet, no replay was available, and they weren't able to challenge it. Worst chair ump ever. Keep seeing her blow calls since, too. That point was critical, maybe in a tiebreak, iirc.

We watched them routine Shelton/eubanks at IW this year w surgical precision against a biased crowd. Afterward, Zeballos gave my son some brief advice when asked in Spanish.

I agree w your assessment, though. Maybe they'll find some success this year.

 

[ey039524]

Well, that ended quickly: Granollers/Zeballos pulled out, so Behar/Pavlasek are through to the final.

On the women's side: Hsieh/Mertens were upset by Siegemund/Krejcikova, which really isn't too much of an upset, considering the level of both teams. I think Siegemund is one of the best dubs players on the WTA.

 

[sortof]

Nice win by Korda/Thompson. Korda very happy about his first doubles title.

 

[ey039524]

Rome draw is out:
One notable first round matchup is Skupski/Krajicek vs. Melo/Zverev. Still can't understand why Skupski is playing musical chairs w/ partners, while Peers is on the outs. Also not sure why Dodig/Krajicek haven't played together in the two masters before RG, considering they're the defending champs. I guess they're assuming they can turn it on when RG starts.

On the women's side: Townsend is playing w/ Siniakova. Krejcikova/Siegemund are out. I suspect one of them is hurt during/after the beating they took in the Madrid final.

 

[Purestriker]

Rome draw is out:
One notable first round matchup is Skupski/Krajicek vs. Melo/Zverev. Still can't understand why Skupski is playing musical chairs w/ partners, while Peers is on the outs. Also not sure why Dodig/Krajicek haven't played together in the two masters before RG, considering they're the defending champs. I guess they're assuming they can turn it on when RG starts.

On the women's side: Townsend is playing w/ Siniakova. Krejcikova/Siegemund are out. I suspect one of them is hurt during/after the beating they took in the Madrid final.

Townsend and Sinakova will be tough out. Lefty spin with a beast at the net.

 

[DutchUncle]

Where's Gabriela Dabrowski? Haven't seen her since Miami, when she and Routliffe lost the final to Kenin/Mattek-Sands.
Routliffe played Madrid with Krueger, and partnered Gauff for Rome....?

 

[Purestriker]

Where's Gabriela Dabrowski? Haven't seen her since Miami, when she and Routliffe lost the final to Kenin/Mattek-Sands.
Routliffe played Madrid with Krueger, and partnered Gauff for Rome....?

Thought the same thing when I watched Gauff and Beaker playing. Wonder if she got injured.

 

[ey039524]

Townsend and Sinakova will be tough out. Lefty spin with a beast at the net.

Tough quarterfinal vs Gauff/Routliffe. Winner will probably get Hsieh/Mertens in the semi.

On the men's Ebden/Bopanna are out in straights. Vavasorri/Bolleli are playing well.

 

[Purestriker]

Tough quarterfinal vs Gauff/Routliffe. Winner will probably get Hsieh/Mertens in the semi.

On the men's Ebden/Bopanna are out in straights. Vavasorri/Bolleli are playing well.

Will be good tennis. I hope the feeds are better. Has been hard to watch live on TC+. Better on the replay, but spotty live.