why is the men’s doubles in Indian Wells so tough?
Many of the top seeds in the singles draw also lined up in the doubles. A well-established tradition for this first Masters 1000 of the year.
Absences of Nadal and Djokovic, place of N.1 in play, Swiatek in search of the double… There are many reasons to follow the first Masters 1000 of the season. But since the publication of the tables, an event particularly attracts the spectators of Indian Wells: the male doubles. Rarely has a doubles tournament been so high, with the presence of many top seeds in the singles draw. A decade-old tradition in the Coachella Valley.
Ruud, Rublev and Sinner starring
From this Friday, we will obviously find the high-performance pairs on the circuit, such as that formed by the Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, that 100% Croatian Nikola Mektic-Mate Pavic, the 100% Colombian Juan Sebastian Cabal-Robert Farah, or even the Joe Salisbury-Rajeev Ram Anglophone Association. Alongside these doubles regulars, a myriad of excellent singles players formed more or less surprising pairs to cross swords.
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Among them, several are associated by nationality. This is the case of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul (United States), Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov (Canada), John Isner and Jack Sock (United States), Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego (Italy) , by Pablo Carreno Busta and Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain), but also by Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev (Russia). Other pairs are more unexpected but just as enticing: Holger Rune with Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov with Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud with Dominic Thiem, or even Frances Tiafoe with Stan Wawrinka. Also note the presence of the winning pair of the Australian Open in January, formed by Australians Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.
Jackpot at the key
The reasons for the participation of all these stars are multiple. Players are enjoying a rather light month of March in terms of schedule, with only the Miami Masters 1000 to come. The tournament also comes early enough in the year that adjustments are still needed in their games. The bodies still support the repetition of the efforts. And then of course there are money issues. The winners of the doubles tournament will pocket 411,000 euros. It is certainly much less the jackpot received by the winner in singles (more than a million euros), but it is almost twice as much as other Masters 1000 such as Bercy (282,000 euros in 2022), Monte -Carlo (256,000 euros in 2022) or Cincinnati (290,000 euros in 2022).
In 2011, we were able to see Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer face off in doubles, the former teaming up with Marc Lopez, the latter with Stan Wawrinka. Novak Djokovic also went there with his participation, alongside Viktor Troicki in 2017. Without forgetting Juan Martin del Potro, Nick Kyrgios, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Tomas Berdych. Under the Californian sun, everyone seems rather relaxed and the show is there. Rare moments that delight tennis fans.
