Doubles Preview: Will Krawietz/Mies Retain Their Roland Garros Title?

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies arrived at 2019 Roland Garros having played only eight tour-level events together. They left Paris as the first all-German team in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title. Now, they are back to defend their crown.

The eighth seeds begin their run against Kazakhs Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin. The first seeded opponents they could face are 10th seeds Raven Klaasen and Oliver Marach in the third round.

Atop the draw are Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who won Wimbledon and the US Open last year. The top seeds play French wild cards Corentin Denolly and Kyrian Jacquet in their opener.

Recent US Open champions Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares will try to replicate their feat on the Parisian clay, starting with a clash against Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald.

A team to watch will be second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, who are fresh off winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The Spanish-Argentine duo has been at its best in the biggest events, winning the Coupe Rogers in their team debut last year and reaching the 2019 US Open final. Granollers and Zeballos begin their campaign against Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey.

This year’s Australian Open champions, third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, face home favourites Gregoire Barrere and Quentin Halys, who are wild cards.

Former Roland Garros doubles titlists in the field include sixth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, Pablo Cuevas and Feliciano Lopez (who won with different partners), Marcelo Melo, Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3kVimAe