A day after assuring their place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are also assured of the year-end No1 ranking after the current top team, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, had their campaign ended in a surprising 0-3 round-robin run in London.
Mahut had also been playing for the individual No1 ranking in doubles and needed just one match-win here to achieve it. But the French pair went down to Henri Kontinen and John Peers after winning the first set, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 10-4.
Now, what looked an unlikely scenario before the tournament began, could also see Soares overtake Mahut for the individual No1 ranking if he and Murray win the title come Sunday.
With Andy Murray still competing for the year-end No1 in singles, history could be in the making if both brothers top rankings.
The elder of the brothers, Jamie was, for a short while, No1 in doubles earlier this year, but he and Soares did not hold onto the top spot for long, giving way to Mahut and Herbert.
This is the second straight year that Jamie Murray has qualified for the World Tour Finals doubles competition, but the first time he has paired with Soares, in a partnership that flourished immediately.
After two Grand Slam final finishes last year with Peers, Murray and Soares won both the Australian and US Opens this year. But ahead of the tournament, the Brazilian did not give himself much hope of the individual No1 spot:
“I have no chance now: [Mahut’s] too far ahead so it’s not going to happen.”
He was more optimistic about his team’s chances though: “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.”
And amazing it has turned out to be. And could be doubly so come Sunday.