The Bryan Brothers

The New Look of Men’s Doubles

March 25, 2008

“No blinking, no easy passes, no holding back, no going solo, no simple shots, no ad” is the message of Stanford ATP Doubles Rules, the campaign that was launched in 2007. With men’s doubles at the height of its popularity, maybe they should add “no predictability” to the list as well because, with the 2008 season well underway, men’s doubles hasn’t been this exciting in a long time.

The field now features a unique collection of past champions and talented newcomers. In addition, many of the top doubles teams of the past have dissolved and new partnerships have been formed, creating an interesting mix at the top of the rankings.

The Bryan brothers, who have ruled men’s doubles for the past five years and are one of the few top teams to continue their partnership into this season, are still one of the best teams but seem to have lost their stranglehold on the sport. After clinching the doubles race for the third straight year in 2007 and becoming the first team to finish No. 1 four times in five years, Bob and Mike have yet to win a title this season and currently sit third in the year’s standings. However, the Americans have reached four finals in 2008, remain the world’s top ranked team, and are a duo that no one wants to face when the stakes are high.

The most surprising team so far this year has been the Israeli tandem of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, who currently sit atop the Stanford ATP Doubles Race. After finishing last season tied for No. 18 in the doubles rankings, Erlich and Ram have moved up to No. 8 following a stellar start to the year. They captured the Australian Open crown, becoming the first Israeli Grand Slam champions in Open era history, and followed up that performance with a victory at the Pacific Life Open last week for their second career Masters Shield.

Several of last season’s top teams that have since swapped partners are also experiencing success with their new court-mates. Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic are fourth in the doubles race. Since partnering late last year, the duo has notched a victory at the 2007 St. Petersburg Open and, most recently, an appearance in the Pacific Life Open final.

Nestor’s longtime partner, Mark Knowles, is now playing with Mahesh Bhupathi. The Bahamian-Indian tandem won back-to-back tournaments in Memphis and Dubai earlier this season as part of a 10-match winning streak that vaulted them into second place in the doubles race.

Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) and Max Mirnyi (Belarus), who were also paired for several years, recently split and both men went their separate ways. Mirnyi is now playing with Jamie Murray (Scotland) and continuing to win championships, as the duo captured the Delray Beach title in February and reached the semis last week in Indian Wells. Meanwhile, Bjorkman teamed up with Kevin Ullyett, a former world No. 4 doubles player (with Australian Paul Hanley) to advance to the semis in Las Vegas and win the East London Challenger event.

Other pairings, such as Frenchmen Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement, Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, and Simon Aspelin (Sweden) and Julian Knowle (Austria), remain the same as last year, each with the goal of using their experience together to unseat the top teams.

As the season progresses towards the Rogers Cup, it will become more and more clear which of these teams is ready to step up and stake their claim as the world’s top duo. Regardless of who that is, one thing is for sure: the stellar play of these men will continue to win over fans in each city lucky enough to experience men’s doubles.