ATP World Tour Finals: Doubles PreviewSeptember 17, 2015

Tennis fans like what happened in Arthur Ashe Stadium last Saturday. Nicolas Mahut was emotional, but not due to another loss. He and Pierre Hugues Herbert won the US Open, the first French pair to do so.

Mahut would be remembered for loss to John Isner in the longest singles match in Wimbledon in 2010. He also had near misses. (Mahut and Michael Llodra lost to Bob and Mike Bryan in the finals of the 2012 French Open.) The 33-year old's partnership with Herbert, which began last December, turned out to be something. (The two reached the finals of the Australian Open.) This would make men's doubles a wide-open field.

The Bryan brothers completed a non-calendar Grand Slam after winning the 2013 Wimbledon title, their third at the All England Club. And then nine different pairs won the next nine Grand Slam tournaments. (Leander Paes and Radek Å tÄ›pÃ¡nek, 2013 US Open. Åukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt, 2014 Australian Open. Julien Benneteau and Ã‰douard Roger-Vasselin, 2014 French Open. Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock, 2014 Wimbledon. Bob and Mike Bryan, 2014 US Open. Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, 2015 Australian Open. Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, 2015 French Open. Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia TecÄƒu, 2015 Wimbledon.) The Bryan twins failed to win a major hardware in 2015, their first in ten years, but it doesn't mean they would lose their grip on the top spot.

Bob and Mike Bryan won six tournaments this year, the most by any team. They'll head to the ATP World Tour Finals to defend their title, but they won't be the strong favourites. Jamie Murray and John Peers, runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open, will likely make their debut at the Oz Arena. The British-and-Aussie pair might end up lifting the winner's trophy. They're eager to win a major tournament. They fancy the fast courts. Jamie Murray, Andy's older brother, will have the support of the home crowd.

Bolelli and Fognini were dominant during the first quarter of the year, but both haven't shown their winning form during the last few months. Inconsistency hound Dodig and Melo after their victory at Roland Garros. Many are certain of Rojer and TecÄƒu reaching the semifinals in London. How about Herbert and Mahut?

2016 ATP World Tour forecast

Many criticized French Davis Cup captain Arnaud ClÃ©ment after the quarterfinal tie between France and Great Britain, arguing that Herbert and Mahut should have played the Murray brothers. (The British team won the tie, where they would face the Aussies in the semifinals.) It will continue next year, after Benneteau's recovery from a sport hernia. ClÃ©ment, in case his services will be retained by French Tennis Federation, must choose between Herbert and Mahut and Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin. The surface might be the factor, as Herbert and Mahut thrive on hard and grass courts.

It's interesting to note that the 2016 Rio Olympics will be played on DecoTurf, the same surface in use at the US Open. This will make Herbert and Mahut the favourites to win the gold, along with the Bryan brothers. Expect to see more of the French duo, as Mahut will play as long as his body allows him.

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