DJOKOVIC, NADAL, MURRAY & JOIN THE WORLD NO. 1 RANKED BRYAN BROTHERS

Written by: Staff on 28th February 2012

DJOKOVIC, NADAL, MURRAY & JOIN THE WORLD NO. 1 RANKED BRYAN BROTHERS

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates a point against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the men's final of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Sunday, January, 29, 2012. EPA/DAVID CROSLING |

INDIAN WELLS, Calif., Feb. 28, 2012 – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and other top-ranked singles players will join the World No. 1 Bryan Brothers and other talented doubles teams in the BNP Paribas Open men’s doubles draw, it was announced today by Steve Simon, tournament director. The tournament will be held March 5-18 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and the men’s doubles draw will begin on Sunday, March 11.

Djokovic, the defending BNP Paribas Open men’s singles champion and World No. 1, will once again partner with fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki. The team reached the quarterfinals of the doubles draw last year. World No. 2 Rafael Nadal will pair with Marc Lopez again and together they captured the 2010 BNP Paribas Open doubles title, but fell last year in the semifinal. World No. 4 Andy Murray and his brother Jamie will team up as well again, and seek to improve upon their quarterfinal run in 2011.

Other top-ten singles players who will compete in the doubles draw include No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, partnering with countryman Julien Benneteau, and No. 8 Mardy Fish, partnering with fellow American and former World No.1 Andy Roddick. Fish and Roddick have won two doubles titles together including the 2009 BNP Paribas Open.

Competing alongside these singles stars will be perennial doubles powerhouses such as World No. 1 ranked Bob and Mike Bryan, Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor and Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic. The Bryan Brothers are the most successful doubles team of all time, owning 76 titles and finishing as the No. 1 team in the world seven of the last nine years. However, the BNP Paribas Open title has eluded the American duo from Southern California, but they hope to change that as the tournament’s top-seeded team.

Mirnyi and Nestor teamed up to win four titles in 2011 including the French Open. Combined, they have won a total of 118 titles dating back to when Nestor won his first in 1994. Llodra and Zimonjic also won four titles as a team last year and have won a total of 67 in their combined careers. Within those top three teams, however, Nestor is the only one to have won the doubles title at the BNP Paribas Open, doing so three times in 2002, 2005 and 2006.

The tandem of Alexandr Dolgopolov and Xavier Malisse will seek to defend their 2011 BNP Paribas Open title and will no doubt produce some exciting tennis. Entering into the draw at the last minute last year, and playing together for the first time, the ponytailed duo won all of their matches in third set super tie-breaks, and by no more than three points.

“We are very pleased with the strength of the BNP Paribas Open men’s doubles draw,” said Simon. “Fans certainly have followed these matches with a great deal of interest and excitement as they love seeing the top singles players compete against each other in doubles as well as against the marquee doubles teams.”

Other notable teams in this year’s draw include 2012 Australian Open champions Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, Gael Monfils and Philipp Kohlschreiber, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna and Kei Nishikori and Juan Monaco. Eight more teams will receive on-site direct entry and two will be granted wild cards. The men’s doubles final will be held on Saturday, March 17 following the men’s semifinals and the women’s doubles final.