Djokovic/Cilic, Zverev Brothers, Kyrgios In Doubles Action Next Week

Novak Djokovic will get plenty of attention as the top seed in the singles draw at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships next week. But the fans in Dubai and around the world will get a special treat.

Djokovic will also compete in doubles, partnering former World No. 3 Marin Cilic for the first time. The singles stars will not have it easy, as they will face top seeds and Australian Open champions Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury in the first round.

Djokovic has competed in doubles in Dubai five times previously (0-5), and he most recently played doubles at this year’s inaugural ATP Cup, winning two matches alongside Viktor Troicki. Djokovic and Troicki clinched Team Serbia’s championship victory against Team Spain with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez.

It is a star-studded doubles draw at the ATP 500, where 2019 Nitto ATP Finals competitors Ram/Salisbury, Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek, Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies, Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau, Pierre-Hugues Herbert (w/Paire), Raven Klaasen (w/Marach) and Michael Venus (w/Peers) are all in action.

Zverev Brothers, Kyrgios Playing Doubles In Acapulco
There will be plenty of singles stars in doubles action at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, too. Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev, the defending champions, will begin their title defence against qualifiers.

Nick Kyrgios will partner fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson against Frenchmen Adrian Mannarino and Fabrice Martin in the first round. #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will compete with Monaco’s Hugo Nys, and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov will team with American Taylor Fritz.

They will all have a tough time chasing the title with standout doubles teams leading the draw. The top seeds are Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, the 2019 year-end No. 1 team. Longtime partners Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo are the second seeds and 2019 Montreal champions Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are the third seeds.

Fourth seeds Max Purcell and Luke Saville, who reached this year’s Australian Open final, bring plenty of momentum to Acapulco.

Demoliner/Middelkoop Top Seeds In Santiago
Marcelo Demoliner and Matwe Middelkoop are the top doubles seeds at the Chile Dove Men+Care Open in Santiago. The second seeds are Marcelo Arevalo and Jonny O’Mara, who pushed Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan to a Match Tie-break in the Delray Beach semi-finals.