In the final of the double competition at the ATP Finals in London, the winners of the last three Grand Slam tournaments will meet.
It is quite possible that Pierre-Hugues Herbert sat on his chair in the O2 Arena last Monday and has already mentally prepared for the upcoming Davis Cup final in Lille against Croatia. All alone Herbert looked into the darkened arena, partner Nicolas Mahut had just been treated on the shinbone. Mahut had crashed unhappily to the edge of a protective device in front of the linesmen’s chairs, the continuation not only in the match against Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic was badly in doubt.
A few days later Herbert and Mahut will be in the final of the ATP Finals 2018, where they will face the high favourites Mike Bryan and Jack Sock – against whom they won 6-2 and 6-2 in the last match of the group stage. Sock and Bryan are only in third place in London, but the last two big titles were won by the Americans: in Wimbledon and at the US Open.
In the absence of his hip-operated brother Bob, Bryan leads the ATP world rankings in doubles, Sock is already in fourth place. For Bryan it is the 17th participation in the final tournament, exclusively limited to the doubles, of course. Sock was at the start for the first time last year, but at that time in the individual competition, a late rebellion with the title in Paris had made it possible.
The American doubles were only found in the middle of the year, but Herbert and Mahut didn’t have a complete season either. But then he won two big titles: First the one in Rotterdam, then the home game in Roland Garros. Both times against Marach and Pavic. The latter had entered the season finale as top seeds, but rarely found their rhythm.
But you shouldn’t give too much away on the smooth result in the last group match: Sock and Bryan had already qualified for the semi-finals at this point. And the Americans won their last match, in which something was at stake: the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy.