ATP Astana: The tournament of missed double chances
Realistically, there are still two spots open for doubles pairs at the ATP Finals 2022. At the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Astana, three teams missed the chance for an exclamation mark.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Oct 06, 2022, 10:01 pm
Hubert Hurkacz and Jan Zielinsky will no longer make it to the ATP Finals in Turin together. At the current ATP Tour 500 event in Astana, the Polish double pairing is just a bit of a spoilsport for those duos who can still hope for a slot at the end of the year.
The initial situation is as follows: The four winners of the Grand Slam tournaments qualify if they are among the top 20 pairings in the race at the end of the season. Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis (champions at the Australian Open), Marcel Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer (Roland Garros), Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell (Wimbledon), as well as Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (US Open) will be more or less relaxed create. Ebden and Purcell didn't get any points for their triumph in London, but on the other hand they also collected enough points at other events.
Pütz, Krawietz, Mies are eliminated
Then Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, the best couple of the season on points, can also plan with Turin. Things are also looking good for Nikola Mektic with Mate Pavic and Marcel Granollers alongside Horacio Zeballos. Especially since after this week there are only medium-sized tournaments in Vienna or Basel and a really big one in Paris-Bercy. That could still give the other aspirants a push.
Realistically, there are still two places open. And in Astana, now we're back at Hurkacz/ Zielinski, three teams could have scored really nice points. But both Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara (seventh place in the race) as well as Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini (ninth place) failed because of the Poles. Both Tim Pütz and Michael Venus (currently the eighth best doubles), but also the eleventh-year-olds Kevin Krawietz and Anfreas Mies could have taken advantage of this. Alone: Pütz/Venus lost to Adrian Mannarino and Fabrice Martin on Thursday, as did “KraMies” a few minutes later to Granollers/Zeballos.
The tournament in Astana will go down in the history of 2022 as one of the missed opportunities. There is all the more pressure for those who failed in Kazakhstan in the remaining weeks before Turin.