Three Teams Secure Shanghai Berths
© Getty Images Shanghai, China – Doubles veterans Martin Damm and Leander Paes and Wimbledon titlists Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra have secured their berths in the prestigious Tennis Masters Cup, leaving just two spots open in the elite eight-team doubles field going into the final week of the regular ATP season.
Damm and Paes, the No. 5 team in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race, will be appearing in their second consecutive Tennis Masters Cup. Last year, the two reached the semifinals where they fell in a battle of three tie-breaks to eventual champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi.
The Czech-Indian duo made a quick start to the second full year of their partnership with a runner-up finish in Doha and the title win in Rotterdam. In March, they clinched their team’s first ATP Masters Series title at the Pacific Life Open and took their winning streak to the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where they were defeated by the top-seeded Bryans in the final.
Clement and Llodra will be making their team debut at the circuit finale after they received the berth reserved for Grand Slam champions with US Open titlists Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle’s confirmed Top 7 finish. Llodra won the Tennis Masters Cup title in his last event appearance, partnering compatriot Fabrice Santoro to the 2005 title.
In addition to their triumph at Wimbledon, the Frenchmen collected two titles on home soil, at Marseille and Metz. The No. 10 team in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race will attempt to defend their title at the BNP Paribas Masters this week.
UPDATE: Monday, October 29, 2007 Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner qualified after Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram made a first round exit at the BNP Paribas Masters on Monday. Eric Butorac and Frantisek Cermak saved one match point at 9-8 in the Match Tie-break and eventually beat the Israeli duo 7-6(1) 2-6, 11-9 (Match TB).
The eighth and final position hinges on whether defending Tennis Masters Cup champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi win or loss their first match at the final ATP Masters Series event of the year.
Should Bjorkman and Mirnyi win their first match they will qualify for the circuit-finale. Otherwise Erlich and Ram will get the nod for a second trip to Shanghai.
Bjorkman and Mirnyi are both past doubles titlists at the BNP Paribas Masters, Bjorkman winning in 2004 (w/ Woodbridge) and Mirnyi in 2000 (w/ Kulti).
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