London Doubles Hopefuls Experience Mixed Fortunes In Beijing, Tokyo
London Doubles Hopefuls Experience Mixed Fortunes In Beijing, Tokyo
Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek earned the doubles upset of the day on Monday at the China Open in Beijing. The Croatian/Slovakian team knocked out third seeds and Nitto ATP Finals hopefuls Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus 6-1, 5-7, 10-5 to advance at the ATP 500 event.
Dodig/Polasek, with 1,960 points, are currently in 12th place in the ATP Doubles Race To London, 660 points behind eighth-placed Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury (2,570). The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the prestigious championships, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London. Klaasen/Venus are in fifth place in the Race, with 3,370 points.
Second seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo rolled past Brits Kyle Edmund/Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-3. Kubot/Melo are second in the Race (3,445 points) and are looking to qualify for a third straight season.
John Isner/Alexander Zverev squeezed past fourth seeds Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies, the reigning Roland Garros champions, 4-6, 7-5, 10-7. Krawietz/Mies are seeking their maiden showing in London and are in fourth place in the Race, with 3,375 points.
In other action, Chinese wild cards Mao-Xin Gong/Ze Zhang knocked out two-time Nitto ATP Finals champions Henri Kontinen/John Peers 4-6, 6-4, 10-7, and Russians Karen Khachanov/Andrey Rublev dismissed Felix Auger-Aliassime/Matteo Berrettini 6-7(2), 6-2, 10-8. Kontinen/Peers are in seventh place in the Race (2,820).
Top Seeds Fall In Tokyo
Croatians Nikola Mektic/Franko Skugor knocked out top seeds Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 7-6(3) at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Granollers/Zeballos, US Open finalists, are in 10th place in the Race, with 2,200 points, 370 points behind eighth-placed Ram/Salisbury.
But second seeds Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin restored order with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Hubert Hurkacz/Benoit Paire, and third seeds Ram/Salisbury bolstered their London chances, beating Marcus Daniell/Philipp Oswald 3-6, 7-6(4), 10-7.
