Players, Fans Enjoy ATP Doubles Showdown In Cincinnati
Players, Fans Enjoy ATP Doubles Showdown In Cincinnati
Dozens of fans and a plethora of ATP World Tour doubles players enjoyed the fourth annual ATP Doubles Showdown at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Monday afternoon.
Wayne Bryan kicked off the afternoon of fun with a question-and-answer session with players, including Lukasz Kubot, Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo. Bryan also tested the crowd on their tennis knowledge. He even had Kubot, Soares and Melo dancing at one point. Jamie Murray, Rajeev Ram, Raven Klaasen, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic also participated.
The players and fans then hit on Court 4, as the players worked on doubles drills with fans. Other doubles players, including Leander Paes, John Peers, Nikola Mektic, Jackson Withrow, Juan Sebastian Cabal, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi joined for the latter end of the Doubles Showdown.
The second group spent a full hour on court with fans and Bryan. They ended the session with a battle of football tennis with FC Cincinnati.
Put a group of @fccincinnati players on the court with some of the @ATPWorldTour’s doubles stars and what do you get?…
⚽️? #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/sW4Mf0ewPd
— W&S Open (@CincyTennis) August 14, 2017
In ATP World Tour doubles action, Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer will take on the No. 1 seeds, Henri Kontinen and Peers, for a place in the Cincinnati quarter-finals. The Spaniards narrowly snuck past the Italian-Spanish duo of Paolo Lorenzi and Albert Ramos-Vinolas 1-6, 7-6(2), 10-6.
Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus also advanced to the second round. The American and New Zealander posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Steve Johnson and Daniel Nestor to set a clash with eighth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.
French pair Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin took down Americans John Isner and Donald Young 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-5. The experienced pairing of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau joined the Frenchmen in the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 result over #NextGenATP wild cards Jared Donaldson and Stefan Kozlov.