ATP Finals: Bopanna/Ebden to fight top seeds in Bob Bryan Group in doubles draw

Turin, Nov 7 (IANS) The Australian Open winners Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden of Australia have been placed in the same group that includes top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in the doubles section of the ATP Finals.

As per the doubles draw revealed on Thursday, they will joined in the Bob Bryan Group by Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori and Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz. Teams in each group will play in a round-robin format before the top two make it to the semifinals. The Indo-Australian pair is seeded sixth in this event.

Second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos will be the top contenders from the Mike Bryan Group with Wesley Koolhof/Nikola Mektic, Max Purcell/Jordan Thompson, and Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten the other teams in contention for the semifinal spots from this group.

Arevalo and Pavic, Bolelli and Vavassori, Purcell and Thompson, Heliovaara and Patten, and Krawietz and Puetz are all making their team debuts at the ATP Finals while Koolhof and Mektic claimed the ATP Finals doubles title in 2020.

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson are the reigning US Open men's doubles winner, having won the title by beating Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in the final. This year, Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic won the French Open doubles title while Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten claimed the title at Wimbledon.

Going by their performance this season, these four teams are expected to reach the knockout stage.

Men's doubles draw:

Bob Bryan Group: Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic (1), Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (4), Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden (6), Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz (8)

Mike Bryan Group: Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (2), Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic (3), Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson (5), Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten (7).

--IANS

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