Want A Stacked Draw? Check Out Doubles In Indian Wells
Want A Stacked Draw? Check Out Doubles In Indian Wells
Seven of the Top 10 singles players will play doubles in the desert
Forget the stacked bottom half of the BNP Paribas Open singles draw for a second. How about the loaded doubles draw in Indian Wells?
In addition to former champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan and top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, the draw features a plethora of ATP World Tour singles stars. On the top half, three-time defending singles champion Novak Djokovic is pairing with countryman Viktor Troicki. They’ll face Indian Rohan Bopanna and Brasil Open singles champion Pablo Cuevas in the first round.
In the same quarter, World No. 6 Rafael Nadal is partnering with Aussie Bernard Tomic. Nadal/Tomic will meet Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and Joao Sousa of Portugal in their opener.
On the bottom half, top singles seed Andy Murray will play with fellow Brit Daniel Evans. They will face fifth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in the first round. Murray/Evans could meet Croatians Marin Cilic and Nikola Mektic in the second round.
World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka and No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov should bring plenty of firepower to their first-round contest against Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, who reached the Delray Beach Open final last month.
Less than three weeks ago, Belgian David Goffin and Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played against each other during the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. But during the next two weeks, the two Top 15 players will be teammates. They’ll meet sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, who won the Delray Beach Open doubles title last month.
Tsonga, who won back-to-back singles titles at Rotterdam and Marseille in February, could meet another 2017 singles titlist on the doubles court in Indian Wells. Rio champion Dominic Thiem is partnering with German Philipp Kohlschreiber, whom Thiem beat last year in the Stuttgart final. Thiem/Kohlschrieber face the Zverev brothers – Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev – in the first round.
The most popular team in the doubles draw, though, might be one of the two wild card recipients: Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and Indian Leander Paes. The 43-year-old Paes is going for his 55th career tour-level doubles title.
Top seeds Herbert/Mahut open against Americans John Isner/Jack Sock, and the second-seeded Bryan brothers face Aussie Nick Kyrgios and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic in the first round.
Read More: Murray, Like Fans, Marvels At Other Side Of Draw