Doubles Take looks at the first big tournament of the year on US soil, the Miami Open.
Obviously, a lot has changed in the world since the last time the Miami Open, the joint ATP/WTA event, was held in 2019.
For one, the defending champions on the men’s side, Bob and Mike Bryan, won’t be going for a record-extending seventh title as they retired last year. And in the past few months, multiple partner switches have been made on the ATP Tour. Wesley Koolhof, who reached the ’19 final with singles standout Stefanos Tsitsipas and the winner of the 2020 ATP Finals with Nikola Mektic, is now playing with Lukasz Kubot.
While that new pairing has gotten off to a slow start, that’s been the complete opposite for Mektic, who’s playing with his fellow Croat, Mate Pavic. That team, seeded second in Miami, has won three titles already this year and just dropped a final in Dubai.