Arevalo/Pavic star in Best of 2024 doubles review
To mark the end of another thrilling season, ATPTour.com is unveiling our annual ‘Best Of’ series, which will reflect on the most intriguing rivalries, matches, comebacks, upsets and more. Today we highlight five standout doubles teams from this season.
[ATP APP]Marcelo Arevalo & Mate Pavic
It was a dream-fulfilling season for Arevalo and Pavic, who earned Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honours — not a bad feat in their first season together.
“Everybody plays at the start of the year dreaming about this, so to be here, to lift this trophy, obviously that’s why we play the whole year,” Pavic said when presented with the team’s new hardware in Turin.
The Salvadoran-Croatian pair’s opening week foreshadowed how its season would unfold. Arevalo and Pavic were crowned champions in Hong Kong and rarely looked back, compiling a 47-20 season record. The duo’s year was highlighted by title runs at Roland Garros and the Cincinnati Open.
Nikola Mektic & Wesley Koolhof
Reuniting as partners for the first time since their 2020 Nitto ATP Finals title, Koolhof and Mektic won a season-leading five tour-level trophies en route to sealing a Turin return. The Dutch-Croatian duo enjoyed a triple ATP Masters 1000 success spanning three continents by winning Indian Wells, Shanghai and Paris.
“It’s very special. To win three Masters in a year is an unbelievable achievement from both of us,” said Koolhof.
Koolhof and Mektic also made the final in ’s-Hertogenbosch and Basel. It was the perfect sendoff season for retiree Koolhof, who played his final ATP Tour match at the Nitto ATP Finals before ending his career by competing for the Netherlands at the Davis Cup Final 8.
Kevin Krawietz & Tim Puetz
Krawietz and Puetz signed off their memorable season in style, becoming the first German team to clinch the Nitto ATP Finals trophy in the tournament’s 55-year history. Additionally, the eighth seeds in Turin became the lowest-ranked team to triumph at the season finale.
It was a surprise run considering that three weeks prior, Puetz suffered a calf injury in Antwerp that seemed to jeopardise their chances of qualifying for Turin. “Two weeks ago I couldn’t even walk, now we are here having won the tournament,” Puetz said after winning the Nitto ATP Finals. “It’s amazing.”
Krawietz and Puetz also won their home tournament in Hamburg and reached the US Open final.
Harri Heliovaara & Henry Patten
Despite not beginning their partnership until the fourth month of the year, Heliovaara and Patten qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals and reached the semi-finals in Turin. Their success did not take long to launch. Straightaway, they won two ATP Challenger Tour titles and made the Bucharest ATP 250 final.
The Finnish-British team lifted trophies on all three surfaces, including saving three championship points against Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson to triumph at Wimbledon. Heliovaara and Patten also lifted tour-level trophies in Marrakech, Lyon and Stockholm.
“I think the season we’ve had, especially given that we started the year, has been amazing, highlighted by the Grand Slam win at Wimbledon,” said Patten. “[That is] everyone’s dream as a tennis player. It’s been a surreal season.”
Max Purcell & Jordan Thompson
Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson quadrupled their team trophy count this year with a standout season in which they won the US Open title and made the Wimbledon final. “Being a Grand Slam champion has a great ring to it,” said Thompson, No. 3 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings. “Especially after the heartbreak at Wimbledon.”
Entering the year having won just one tour-level title together — last year’s ATP 250 in Houston — the Aussies played a more consistent schedule and were equally as steady in their form. The Sydneysiders completed the Texas two-step by winning in Dallas and successfully defending their Houston title. Sandwiched in between those title runs was their triumph in Los Cabos, where Thompson swept the Mexican ATP 250 by also winning the singles crown.
<img alt=”Max Purcell/Jordan Thompson” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/09/07/18/28/purcell-thompson-us-open-2024-trophy-shot.jpg” />
Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson win the US Open. Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images
Thompson and Purcell dropped just one set across six matches to win their maiden major title at Flushing Meadows and finished the year with a semi-final run at the Nitto ATP Finals.
“It’s the best feeling ever when I get to win with Jordan,” Purcell said. “Teaming up with anyone else and winning big tournaments — I just don’t think it would feel the same. I think it’s about who you play with and the relationship you have.”
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