The 2018 ATP Tour doubles season was an exciting one, from Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic clinching the year-end No. 1 ATP Doubles Team Ranking to Jack Sock partnering Mike Bryan after Bob Bryan hurt his hip in Madrid, ultimately winning Wimbledon, the US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals.
Which doubles storylines should you look for in 2019?
Bryan Brothers Reunite
Bob Bryan may be 40 years old. But he has recovered from August hip surgery and is ready to rejoin brother Mike Bryan, who is No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings.
While Mike Bryan and Sock enjoyed a tremendous partnership in the second half of 2018, winning Wimbledon, the US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals, it’s easy to forget that Bryan/Bryan had gotten off to a fast start to the 2018 season before Bob Bryan’s injury.
Bryan/Bryan reached at least the semi-finals in seven of the nine tournaments they played together in 2018, winning two ATP Masters 1000 titles (Miami, Monte-Carlo) in the same year for the first time since 2015. It was in a third Masters 1000 final in Madrid that Bob Bryan injured his hip. The twins are scheduled to make their return as a team at the Brisbane International.
Look for the pair to make more history in 2019, as they have already claimed 116 tour-level doubles titles together.
Can Marach/Pavic Back Up 2018 Performance?
Marach and Pavic dominated the early part of 2018, getting off to a 17-0 start with consecutive titles in Doha, Auckland and at the Australian Open. The Austrian-Croatian pair would also triumph in Geneva en route to eventually guaranteeing that they would finish as the year-end No. 1 ATP Doubles team.
Marach and Pavic finished the year strong as well, reaching the semi-finals or better at their final five tournaments of the year ahead of their second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals (2017 as alternates).
In 2019, more teams will be chasing after what Marach and Pavic have already earned. Will they be able to further raise their level to keep their spot at the top of the doubles world?
Accomplished Teams Looking To Bounce Back
Two teams that did not qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in 2018, but have been mainstays on the ATP Tour in recent years, are Henri Kontinen/John Peers and Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau.
Kontinen/Peers were the two-time defending champions at the season finale in London, but only appeared at The O2 in 2018 as alternates in a loss against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. The Finnish-Australian team lost its final six matches of the season. But the pair also showed flashes of brilliance last year, winning titles in Brisbane, The Queen’s Club and Toronto. So expect them to bounce back in 2019.
Also missing out were Rojer and Tecau, as Tecau missed four months due to injury. While the veterans rallied to finish 11th in the ATP Doubles Race To London, they could not recover enough to make the season finale. With both players healthy, the Dutch-Romanian duo will make a strong push to return to The O2 for the fourth time as a team in 2019.
Top Pairs Sticking Together
While you might expect some movement among doubles teams, with players switching partners at the start of the season, 13 of the Top 14 pairs in the 2018 ATP Doubles Race To London will remain intact in 2019. The only team that qualified for last year's Nitto ATP Finals that will not be competing together to start the season is Bryan/Sock, and that is due to the return of Bob Bryan.
New teams in 2019 include Ivan Dodig/Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Austin Krajicek/Artem Sitak.
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500 Weeks/10 Years At World No. 1 For Mike
While the Bryan Brothers’ reunion will be a major storyline to follow in 2019, it’ll be important to follow Mike Bryan individually as well. As of 31 December, the World No. 1 will have spent 479 weeks atop the ATP Doubles Rankings. That means that if the American can remain atop the doubles mountain until 27 May without losing his top position, Bryan will reach 500 weeks as the No. 1-ranked player.
But that’s not all. In 2019, Bryan can also reach 520 weeks at World No. 1, which would give him an unprecedented 10 years at the peak of his discipline.
To put that feat into context, Roger Federer holds the record for most weeks atop the ATP Rankings, having led the singles pack for 310 weeks.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2EYmn5S
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