World No. 1 duo Bob and Mike Bryan have seen their stranglehold on the doubles game come under threat in 2015, but will look to extend their Grand Slam winning stream with victory at the US Open over the next two weeks.
The Americans have won at least one major title each year since 2005 and have a total haul of 16 Grand Slam championships. Twelve months ago, they celebrated their 100th team title at Flushing Meadows, but have been denied in the majors this season, with Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini winning the Australian Open, Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo triumphing at Roland Garros and Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau claiming the Wimbledon crown.
The 37-year-old Bryans come into the US Open having won three of their past four tournaments to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings, after being usurped briefly by Rojer and Tecau.
The top seeds, who have lifted the US Open trophy five times, open their campaign against fellow Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey and could face another doubles stalwart, Leander Paes, in the second round. The Indian is teaming up with Fernando Verdasco for the first time. The Spaniard will be Paes’ 102nd doubles partner.
Fourteenth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah are potential third-round opponents for the Bryans. The Colombians have won two titles this season and are currently 11th in the race to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Australian Open champions Bolelli and Fognini are seeded fifth and in the same quarter of the draw as 11th seeds and 2014 Wimbledon winners Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock. The Canadian/American duo will be looking for a strong showing at Flushing Meadows to boost their chance of qualifying for the Final Showdown in London, having just missed out on a place at the season finale last year.
Other seeds in the same half as the Bryans are No. 4 Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic, runners-up two weeks ago in Cincinnati (l. to Nestor/Roger-Vasselin), No. 8 Jamie Murray and John Peers, who reached their first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, and No. 10 Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares.
Second seeds Dodig and Melo face a tough opener against last week’s Winston-Salem champions, Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt. Sixth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea, winners of four titles this year, loom as potential quarter-final opponents. As do the new duo of Daniel Nestor and Edouard Roger-Vasselon, who began their partnership with a bang in the past month, reaching the Montreal final and winning the Cincinnati title. Former champions Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner are also in that section of the draw.
Third seeds Rojer and Tecau open their campaign against Andre Begemann and Oliver Marach and would be on course to face 16th seeds Feliciano Lopez and Max Mirnyi in the third round. Seventh seeds Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez or Australian Open runners-up Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut are both potential quarter-final opponents for the Wimbledon champions.
( Courtesy of the ATP and original link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/us-open-2015-doubles-preview )
Topics: 2015 US Open, Atp, Bob Bryan, Bryan Brothers, Doubles tennis, Mike Bryan, Mixed Doubles, sports news, Tennis, US Open tennis
BOB AND MIKE BRYAN LOOKING TO EXTEND SLAM STREAK, BUT PASS ON PLAYING #MixedDoubles TO DO IT- http://t.co/K2CrM9j7aU @Bryanbrothers #tennis