ATP World Tour Finals: Murray and Soares open No1 charge – but doubles competition is hot

The men who make up the doubles teams at the season’s finale every year often talk about the pleasure of playing to packed houses in the biggest indoor arena in tennis.

Too often the poor relation on the circuit, pushed to the second courts until the final stages, doubles tennis is nevertheless a big fan favourite: fast, furious, and in the format most often enjoyed by the fans themselves, whether at school, club or on local public courts.

Of course the speed and quality of what the world’s best produce at the World Tour Finals is altogether different, and has captivated crowds at the O2 since the tournament moved here in 2009.

This year, though, there is even more to captivate than usual.

First, the No1 man in singles, Andy Murray, is joined in London by elder brother Jamie, who tasted the rarefied air of No1 earlier this year. The elder Murray, indeed, is looking to reclaim the top spot in London.

This is the second straight year that Jamie Murray has qualified for the World Tour Finals doubles competition, but the first time he is paired with Bruno Soares, in a partnership that flourished immediately.

After two Grand Slam final finishes last year with John Peers, Murray and Soares won both the Australian and US Opens this year. But their occupation of the No1 ranking was short-lived, soon usurped by the charismatic French team of 34-year-old Nicolas Mahut and 25-year-old Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who won three Masters titles and the Wimbledon crown.

Now these same two teams were set to contest the top team ranking. Indeed Soares could even take the individual No1 ranking, but it would require the near impossible task of winning all five matches with Murray this week and for Mahut to lose all three round-robin matches.

As Soares put it: “I have no chance now: He’s too far ahead so it’s not going to happen.”

Mahut, though, could not just become the first Frenchman to top the individual doubles ranking, he and Herbert could also be the first French team to finish at No1. And the story, much like that between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, could come down to the final match.

However, theirs is not the only headline act in the doubles draw this week.

The popular Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, have qualified for this tournament for the 15th consecutive year, and arrived here clutching yet another ATP Fans’ Favourite Award. They have won this title four times, and although 2016 has yielded fewer wins than many a year, they remain perhaps the most formidable doubles force in tennis.

They admitted it had been a tough year, but: “We’ve been on the verge of having a breakthrough, but haven’t been able to get over that hump.

“We’ve had a coaching change this year and have been working hard on a lot of new things and are waiting for it to pay off. We have been putting in the time and the work… but it’s nice to be the underdog and take the guys by surprise.”

Here as third seeds, they also happen to be in the Murray/Soares group, and saw off Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in little more than an hour, 7-6(3), 6-0, in the very first match of the tournament.

In Mahut and Herbert’s group is another exciting duo in the shape of Feliciano and Marc Lopez—not related, but combining to beat the brothers Bryan to win the French Open title this year.

Murray and Soares featured in the second doubles match on opening Sunday, taking on Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi. It proved to be a tougher encounter than the Bryans’ had been, but even so, the British/Brazilian duo spent just an hour and 20 minutes on court in a fast-paced, attacking match that separated the teams by just five points. But those five points and the match went to Murray and Soares, 6-4, 7-5.

What, though, has made this pairing so successful so soon?

For a start, like the Bryans, one is right-handed, the other left-handed, making it hard for opponents to see patterns and find a rhythm. Soares listed that among a string of other plusses in the Murray game:
“Leftie, great serve, amazing volleys, very fast at the net, quick hands, and I think working with the right opponent for him to maximise his skills.”

Murray elaborated: “I think our strengths match up well. He’s probably able to cover my weaknesses, I can cover some of his weaknesses as well. I think there’s always ways for us to win points regardless of who’s serving, who’s returning. I think we both have a good understanding of what we’re trying to do on the court, what each other’s trying to do, and what the team needs to do to function well.”

Of course the key to a great team invariably comes down to one key element, and this is no different.

“I think we’re good at communicating during the matches to try to solve issues that are coming up. We’re both aware of what’s going on, what the other team’s trying to do, and it seems to work well.”

Soares added: “We knew we could win the big ones once we started playing together, and every time we go out there, and play our best tennis, we have the chance to win the tournament… This is the best tournament we have, and to be able to finish No1 here would be amazing.”

Their hopes are very much alive after this first match. Now it is up to the French duo to follow suit when they open proceedings come Monday, as they take on No7 seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.