The highest ranked singles players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are overwhelmingly at the top of the tree because of their prowess returning serve. Not so in doubles.

The current No. 1 ranked doubles team of Henri Kontinen of Finland and Aussie John Peers are the best performing serving team, propelling them to five ATP World Tour titles last year and helping them to break through for their first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers Ratings analysis of the Top 20 doubles teams when serving, returning, and under pressure provides new insights into what creates separation in doubles at the elite level of our sport. Teams must have played a minimum of 10 matches in 2017 to be eligible for this analysis.

The ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARDS, powered by Infosys Nia Data, is calculated in the following six areas:

1st Serve Percentage

1st Serve Points Won

2nd Serve Points Won

Service Games Won

Add Average Aces per Match

Subtract Average Double Faults per Match

Kontinen and Peers enjoyed an Infosys Serve Rating of 299.8 through the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.. The top five:

1. 299.8 Kontinen/Peers

2. 292.3 Bryan/Bryan

3. 289.0 Koolhof/Middelkoop

4. 288.7 Peralta/Zeballos

5. 288.0 Daniell/Demoliner

What’s fascinating, and completely counter-intuitive, is that Kontinen and Peers have the lowest first-serve percentage (61.8 per cent) of the Top 20 ranked teams in the Infosys Serve Rating. The leaders are Peya/Pavic, who make a substantial 75.8 per cent of their first serves.

But when the first serves do go in for Kontinen and Peers, they are No. 1 in the Top 20 in First Serve Points Won, at 80.5 per cent, and No. 1 in Service Games Won at 94.9 per cent. They are as close to unbreakable as it gets.

The top five in first-serve points won:

1. 80.5% Kontinen/Peers

2. 79.4% Rojer/Tecau

3. 78.3% Murray/Soares

4. 78.2% Koolhof/Middlekoop

5. 77.5% Bryan/Bryan

A primary reason is the overwhelming number of aces Kontinen and Peers hit against their opponents. The top five in aces per match:

1. 7.6 Kontinen/Peers

2. 4.8 Bopanna/Cuevas

3. 4.1 Herbert/Mahut

4. 4.0 Rojer/Tecau

5. 4.0 Klaasen/Ram

Kontinen and Peers also commit the third highest amount of double faults per match at 3.2, but with their ace total more than double that, they are well rewarded for dropping heat on first serves.

When you examine the returning side of the equation, Kontinen and Peers are ranked only 14th out of the Top 20 in the Infosys Return Rating. Dodig/Granollers lead the list and are also No. 1 of the Top 20 in break points won at 48.8 per cent. The top five teams in the Infosys Return Rating:

1. 151.9 Dodig/Granollers

2. 150.0 Murray/Soares

3. 146.4 Herbert/Mahut

4. 145.1 Raja/Sharan

5. 142.5 Bryan/Bryan

(14. 130.6 Kontinen/Peers)

The team of Bopanna/Cuevas leads the tour this season with return points won against first serves, at 33.3 per cent, while the Bryan brothers have won the most amount of points returning second serves, at 53.3 per cent. The top five teams with return games won:

1. 26.1% Murray/Soares

2. 25.2% Peya/Pavic

3. 25.2% Herbert/Mahut

4. 24.5% Bryan/Bryan

5. 24.4% Dodig/Granollers

The Infosys Pressure Rating, incorporating break points saved and won, and tie-breaks and deciding sets won, is led by the doubles team of James Cerretani and Philipp Oswald, with a pressure rating of 258.7. The top five teams in this specific area:

1. 258.7 Cerretani/Oswald

2. 232.3 Klaasen/Ram

3. 226.5 Kubot/Melo

4. 222.0 Zverev/Zverev

5. 218.7 Kontinen/Peers

The art of good doubles incorporates many facets of power and touch, but at the moment, the engine room of the best team in the world squarely begins with blasting a dominant first serve.

Former Top 10 player Kevin Anderson looked like he’s well on his way to returning to his career-high Emirates ATP Ranking on Thursday at Roland Garros.

The South African dropped the first set against Nick Kyrgios but sprinted to the finish to advance to the third round 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. It’s only the second time Anderson has reached the third round of a Grand Slam since his breakthrough Grand Slam performance at the 2015 US Open, when he beat Andy Murray to advance to his first quarter-final. The next month, Anderson reached No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

The 6’8” right-hander has struggled with a myriad of injuries. He had to retire from two matches and withdraw from nine events last season because of injuries to his groin, ankle, left knee and right shoulder. His ranking fell to No. 87 on 16 January 2017.

But this season, a healthy Anderson has been on the comeback path, and Anderson, whose big-hitting game thrives on hard and grass courts, has excelled on clay. He beat David Ferrer in Barcelona, defeated Richard Gasquet to reach the semi-finals at the Millennium Estoril Open and advanced to the last eight in Geneva last week, falling to Kei Nishikori 7-6(6) in the third.

Anderson will next face Brit Kyle Edmund, who ended Argentine Rezo Olivo’s magical Roland Garros run, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 in just over two hours. Olivo had knocked out the 12th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round.

Tsonga’s countryman 15^th seed Gael Monfils reached the third round at Roland Garros the ninth time, dismissing Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-1, 6-4, 6-1. Monfils won 60 per cent of his return points and needed only 91 minutes to advance.

The 30-year-old Frenchman will face countryman Richard Gasquet or Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic.

Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.

World No. 1 Andy Murray fought hard to avoid at Roland Garros on Thursday when he knocked out the Slovakian Martin Klizan 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) for a place in the third round.

Murray recovered from a 1-4 deficit in the fourth set against No. 50-ranked Klizan, who competed with strapping on his left calf, and last year’s finalist will next face Argentine No. 29 seed Juan Martin del Potro.

“In my opinion Juan Martin plays better than what his ranking is,” said Murray. “He’s come back from injuries and he’s had a lot of tough draws this year. I think he’s played Novak a couple of times. He’s played a lot of top 10 players very early in the tournament. But he’s playing well this year and it will be a tough match.”

Murray leads del Potro 6-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, with Murray winning the gold medal match at last year’s Rio Olympic Games before del Potro won a five-set Davis Cup semi-final rubber.

Klizan, a player Murray had described as “unpredictable”, started off strongly, moving to a 5-3 lead courtesy of a service break in the third game. Murray regrouped and from 2-2 in the second set broke Klizan’s serve in four out of five service games to take control. World No. 50 Klizan capitalised on a dip in his opponent’s level and raced to a 5-2 lead in the fourth set. But Murray broke back taking the set to a tie-break and he closed out 18th match win of the season with a scrambled backhand volley.

“I expected it to be very tough,” said Murray. “He goes for huge shots. He can hit forehand winners from anywhere on the court. Sometimes you think you’ve hit a good shot and he comes up with unbelievable power from very defensive positions and makes winners. It’s very tough.

“I tried to play a solid match and as the match went on I started to hit the ball a little bit deeper and was able to dictate more of the points. But when he’s controlling with his forehand it’s very difficult.”

The 30-year-old Murray is now two match wins from the 650 victories milestone.

Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.