Kontinen/Peers Lead Loaded Roland Garros Doubles Draw
Top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers lead a strong doubles field on the clay of Roland Garros. The Australian Open champions tasted victory the last time they were in Paris, lifting the Tennis Paris Masters trophy in November, and will look to continue their winning ways on French soil.
The Finnish-Aussie duo open against Spanish pair David Marrero and Tommy Robredo and will face stiff competition to lift the trophy. Defending champions Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez also reside in their quarter of the draw, while fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo and seventh seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers also loom large in their half.
Kubot and Melo enter on the heels of claiming their second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title of the season on the clay of Madrid. The No. 1 team in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London, they open against Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Jeremy Chardy.
Second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut and third seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan lead the charge in the bottom half of the draw. Herbert and Mahut are looking to become the second French duo to lift the Coupe Jacques Brugnon in the past four years (Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin in 2014). They are riding a wave of momentum after prevailing in Rome a week ago.
Another day of practice in the ????. #rg17 #teamizod pic.twitter.com/m9DAi3qmji
— Bob Bryan (@Bryanbros) May 28, 2017
The Bryans, meanwhile, carry their record haul of 16 Grand Slam doubles crowns onto the terre battue of Paris. The champions in 2003 and 2013, the American twins also finished as runners-up the last two years. They open again Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya.
Other tough tandems in their half of the draw include fifth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares and Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters champions Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas. Cuevas won the Roland Garros title in 2008 alongside Luis Horna.