One of the most intriguing sights of the doubles event in Halle was the unorthodox style of Daniil Medvedev as he partnered with Roman Safiullin in an attempt to qualify for the main draw.
They didn’t succeed but the result was close as Albano Olivetti and Yuki Bhambri won 7-6(4) 6-4.
Medvedev plays so little doubles that he doesn’t currently have a ranking. His highest ranking was No. 170 in 2019.
In the qualifying match in Halle, he always stood at the baseline when Safiullin was receiving serve and did not venture to the net often. He did, however, try the I-formation a couple of times.
There were no calls of “yours” or “mine” during points leading to a couple of comic misunderstandings over who would be taking the shot, with the result that both players missed the ball.
Mostly, the lack of conventional doubles play meant Medvedev’s improvising was a delight to watch.
There were several top singles players combining in the main doubles draw. Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev lost in the first round to German team Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Köpfer, 4-6 6-2 3-10.
Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner played doubles together before facing each other in the singles final. They won their first doubles round against the third seeded team of US players Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons, 6-4 5-7 11-9.
But next round Hurkacz and Sinner went down 6-7(3) 6-4 8-10 to Frenchmen Fabien Reboul and Sadio Doumbia.
Eventually, the top seeds, Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori met the No. 2 seeds, Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz in the final.
Bolelli and Vavassori were runners up to Marcelo Melo and Australian John Peers in the Terra Wortmann Open last year.
In 2024, they have shown consistent form, winning the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires; making the semis of the 500 in Rio de Janeiro and the 1000s in Indian Wells and Rome, as well as two Grand Slam finals, in Melbourne and Paris.
The colour co-ordinated teams were closely matched doubles specialists: Power smashes, sneaky little angled volleys to the outer sideline, passing shots to the far corners of the court, flashing net play featuring all four players.
The Italians conferred so much in their point-planning before serves that Bolelli received two time violations and was penalised a second serve. He calmly threw his second ball back to the ball girl and promptly hit an ace.
So tight was the match that two tiebreaks were required to separate the finalists, with a result of 7-6(3) 7-6(5).
At the trophy presentation, Bolelli told the crowd, “It’s a dream come true to win this event.”
A delighted Vavassori agreed though added a reality check, “We don’t celebrate together this time…We leave for London today to play [singles] qualies for Wimbledon.”
Title photo by ATP
Update
Bolelli and Vavassori were the 5th seeds at Wimbledon but lost in the first round 3-6 4-6 to eventual champions Harri Heliövaara and Henry Patten.
In the qualifying for singles, Vavassori lost in the first round to 5th seed Lloyd Harris, 2 & 2. Bolelli did not play.