Top-Ranked NextGen ATP Doubles Players Watch

NextGenner Jan Zielinski and his partner Hugo Nys become the 3rd seeded team to be upset in the first round, falling to the TallGay/ShortGuy tandem of crafty SnV trickster Dustin Brown and NextGen dirtballer Sebastian Báez.
 
With his career-best upset win earlier in the day, Frantzen re-enters my list in the #15 slot (atp #57).

He replaces Seb Korda who did not play the doubles.
 
List Updated.

NextGenners Purcell, Patten, Jebens, & Frantzen punch their tickets to the Wimby QF.

The #15 slot on the list has crept up atp #53.
 
In other news…

The 2024 Wimbledon doubles dreams of under-30 nextgenners Shelton, Broom, Fery, Eubanks, Reboul, Matos, and Baez were ended by old farts today.
 
Patten/Heliovaara today accomplished the rare feat of defeating two World #1 teams (in the year-to-date race) in the same slam tournament.

In R1, the knocked off reigning Aussie Open champs Vavassori/Bolelli, and in the QF, ousted Roland Garros champs Arevalo/Pavic.

I didn’t watch this one yet, but a good way to start my day with news of a huge win. :)

In other NextGen news, Purcell/Thompson also punch their ticket to the semis.
 
List updated.

With young Aussie doubles wiz Max Purcell reaching a new career high atp #23, we now have 8 of the top 15 nextgen players at career high, a new max since I started the watch.
 
Patten/Heliovaara didn’t play their best, but they came thru in the clutch to edge Purcell/Thompson in an unforgettable epic thriller on Centre Court.

Patten leapfrogs to #2 on the NextGen list, at career high #17.
 
Purcell continues to follow Jack Sock's path of not embracing doubles, even though his talent is undeniable. Purcell would be two time wimby champ, if it weren't for Thompson giving points away in the final tiebreaks. Purcell's returns were indefensible.

That said, the two barely squeaked past Brandon nakashima and his younger brother 11-9 in the match tb in Atlanta.
 
ZZ has a chance to go deep in the Olympics mixed draw. I have him and his partner as the second favorite after Pavic.
 
ey039524 said:
Purcell continues to follow Jack Sock's path of not embracing doubles, even though his talent is undeniable. Purcell would be two time wimby champ, if it weren't for Thompson giving points away in the final tiebreaks. Purcell's returns were indefensible.

That said, the two barely squeaked past Brandon nakashima and his younger brother 11-9 in the match tb in Atlanta.
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That’s one way to look at it.

On the other hand, I was charting +/- for the top teams in the Wimbledon tourney (return points won minus serve points lost) as a quick easy measure of level.

Going into the final (thru first 5 rounds), H/H had a combined +/- of +73 (+15 per match). Purcell/Thompson were at +29 (+6 per match). So a sizable level gap. In other words, the final was a lot closer than it would have been had both teams played to their usual level of the rest of the tourney. Watching the final in the moment, it felt less like a choke by the Aussies and more like both teams simply regressing to the mean in the clutch moments.

That said, Purcell/Thompson were +10 in the final, and somehow still lost. I’ve never seen or heard of another doubles match where a team was double digit +/- on the plus side but somehow lost the match, as it must be close to 1-in-a-million rare event.

The closest thing I've found to that was the 2019 singles match between Fed and Nole at Wimbledon (the famous 40-15 match), where Fed was +15 (statistically superior for most of the match) but still lost because Djok was better in the clutch. The big difference then was that Centre Court was cheering for Fed instead of the winner. So the atmosphere and energy in the stadium were quite different.
 
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ey039524 said:
I'm surprised you think so highly of ZZ. From what I've watched in their matches this year, Machac is the better dubs player.
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It’s mostly that he has the prototypical body type for doubles. 6’4” with sturdy short limbs. Tall enough to hold serve but thick enough to be secure on return.
 
ey039524 said:
Yeah, and Machac is little by dubs standards, yet, if you watched the AO, he was carrying them to the semis or whatever round they overachieved to.
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The AO always seems to favor the strong singles guys going far in the doubles draw. I’m not sure what about the conditions is the main cause of that.
 
travlerajm said:
The AO always seems to favor the strong singles guys going far in the doubles draw. I’m not sure what about the conditions is the main cause of that.
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Agreed. I assumed the slow conditions neutralized the big servers and favored the returners. Hijikata and the other small singles player (Jason something) are a great example. Although, watching hijikata/peers play the Murrays at wimby last month, made me change my mind about hijikata. He's a legit dubs player, but still returns unbelievably.
 
ey039524 said:
Agreed. I assumed the slow conditions neutralized the big servers and favored the returners. Hijikata and the other small singles player (Jason something) are a great example. Although, watching hijikata/peers play the Murrays at wimby last month, made me change my mind about hijikata. He's a legit dubs player, but still returns unbelievably.
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I’ll always have a soft spot for Rinky, as he partnered up with our team to win our first ever ITF tourney title as racquet customizers.
 
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The Citi Open doubles draw features 12 of the 32 players in the NextGen category, with the Olympics sucking up the veterans.

Likely to stir up some movement in my NextGen rankings.
 
Czech NextGenners Machac/Pavlacek oust British veterans Salisbury/Skupski (not as big an upset as it seems, due to the court surface).
 
List updated.

The tall German duo continues to creep up the list. And Patten enters the ATP Top 15 with a prime-time televised win over random pairing of 7x-slam-champ Dodig and NextGen American singles stud Shelton yesterday.
 
Big doubles win for NextGen singles-focused randomly-paired tall dudes Karen Khachanov and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, taking out #3 seeded Jamie Murray and Michael Venus at the Citi DC Open.
 
A bit of upward creeping this week, with a new record 9 of the 15 players on the list at career high!

Players joining the NCH list this week. Purcell now up to 16, Reboul up to 29, and Cash slides up to 37.
 
British NextGenner Cash and his partner Galloway are thru to the Winston/Salem final, outdueling accomplished vets Murray/Peers.
 
One half of the R64 of The Open in the books, and already some movement at the top of the list.

Vavassori moves up to NCH ATP #7 without playing yet. And Purcell, up to NCH ATP #14.

Purcell and #13 Patten took care of business, so now 3 slam-winning NextGenners in the Top 15 for the first time this year.

Also, Cash ousted Cinci finalists Mackie/Michelson to match his career high #38.
 
And:

From outside the list, the youngster WC pairing of Emilio Nava and Tristan Boyer shocked #10 seeded veterans Gonzalez/Roger-Vasselin.
 
List updated.

For the first time this year, Max Purcell is the highest ranked NextGen. And deservedly so.

He backs up his Wimby final with his first US Open title.
 
List updated:

Not much movement this month with fewer events for points.

But Machac and Zhang have quietly crept up into the NextGen Top 10.

In the Asian 500s, Vavassori & Patten still alive in China, along with singles nextgenners Cerundolo and Jarry. In Japan, Cash along with singles NextGenners Michelsen, and Tabilo.
 
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The partner switch pays Cash back quickly, as he captures first career 500 title in Tokyo.

He moves up to new career high of #6 on my NextGen rankings (atp #32).
 
Vavassori wins round 2 in the budding rivalry between the two top NextGen big men to take home the China open title for team Italy. Could they be partners at some point in the future?
 
travlerajm said:
Vavassori wins round 2 in the budding rivalry between the two top NextGen big men to take home the China open title for team Italy. Could they be partners at some point in the future?
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No, Italians like to play w each other.

Brits like to play w other English speakers (Aussies, Americans, other Brits).
 
List updated:

Vavassori moves back into the top slot, leapfrogging Purcell to a new career high ATP #6, and celebrates by pulling a Tsitsipas (or is it a McEnroe?) by playing a tourney with his less illustrious brother.

Two NextGenners drop off the list (Pavlacek ages out, hitting 30, and Rinky drops out of the Top 100 after the perks of his rather fluky slam win fade away and he continues to focus on singles).

Hard-serving Tunisian Skander Mansouri rejoins the list and promptly upsets Lammons/Withrow 19-17 in an epic match tiebreak after saving 6 match points.
 
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travlerajm said:
List updated:

Vavassori moves back into the top slot, leapfrogging Purcell to a new career high ATP #6, and celebrates by pulling a Tsitsipas (or is it a McEnroe?) by playing a tourney with his less illustrious brother.

Two NextGenners drop off the list (Pavlacek ages out, hitting 30, and Rinky drops out of the Top 100 after the perks of his rather fluky slam win fade away and he continues to focus on singles).

Hard-serving Tunisian Skander Mansouri rejoins the list and promptly upsets Lammons/Withrow 19-17 in an epic match tiebreak after saving 6 match points.
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I looked to watch some of the dubs matches this week on tennistv, but didn't see any. How did you catch the Lammons/Withrow match?
 
NextGenners took home trophy hardware at all 3 ATP 250 events this week, claiming 7 of 12 finals slots.

Patten in Stockholm over Nouza/Rikl, Erler/Miedler in Antwerp, and young Indian newcomer Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli in Almaty, who saved 5 mps to edge Mansouri.

www.atptour.com

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten bolster Turin hopes with Stockholm triumph | ATP Tour | Tennis

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten took a strong step towards securing their qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals after capturing their fourth tour-level title of the season at the BNP Paribas Nordic Open.
www.atptour.com www.atptour.com
 
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A mini milestone for Patten today, who with his win alongside Finnish partner Heliovaara today over Dhoumbia / Reboul, leapfrogs reigning ATP Finals champ Joe Salisbury to become the top-ranked Brit.
 
Erler/Miedler save a mp on Patten’s serve to advance to the Vienna final.

They are officially the hottest current team on tour, undefeated 7-0 in the indoor season.
 
Nextgen Austrian duo Erler/Miedler complete the back-to-back indoor title 2-step on their home soil.

They come from behind to win the super 10-1 over vet pair Skup/Venus.
 
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