None of the 16 seeded men’s doubles teams made it to the final in Madrid. The introduction of the new regulations seems to have thrown the established doubles pairings somewhat off track. The ATP’s sporting conclusion is likely to be mixed.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edited: May 4, 2024, 9:04 a.m
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The duo Sebastian Korda/Jordan Thompson (in the background) made it to the finals in Madrid.
The experts at the ATP Masters event in Madrid were excited to see how the new regulations in men’s doubles would affect the sport. After the pairings seeded in positions 1, 4, 5 and 8 had to pass at the start of the compact, 5-day format, the death of favorites continued throughout the tournament.
Sebastian Korda’s entry into the final with his partner Jordan Thompson should be exactly to the taste of the ATP. As Nos. 26 and 32 in singles, the highly gifted American and the Australian Nadal conqueror from Brisbane are the names that the players’ association wants as reinforcements in the doubles grid. The unseeded duo started right at the beginning with a win against the duo Bopanna/Ebden, who were ranked number 1, and after another successful run secured their place in the final with a win against the pairing Murray/Venus, ranked number 11.
When it comes to the other finalists, things look a little different when it comes to “big names”. Although the Israeli Ariel Behar and the Czech Adam Pavlasek, as current numbers 39 and 40 respectively, were not among the 16 best pairings due to the new rules when registering, the duo still traveled to Madrid to get “on-site” for the doubles competition to enroll. Since the 16 pairings with highly placed singles players that the ATP had hoped for could not be found to take part in the doubles, they ended up slipping into the tournament. After they were able to eliminate seeded pairings throughout the first three rounds, including the No. 3-seeded duo Salisbury/Skupski from Great Britain, they benefited in the semi-finals from the withdrawal of the second-place doubles Granollers/Zeballos.
The question remains what conclusions the ATP will draw from the sporting course of the doubles competition. The enthusiasm of the established doubles is likely to be limited due to their performance in Madrid.
Here is the double tableau from Madrid
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Korda Sebastian
2024-05-03 18:08:00
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