The Bryan Brothers’ record at the Australian Open is one of the most impressive in tennis. The 11-time slam winners have featured in seven of the last eight finals at Melbourne, winning the title on five occasions. They are obviously the pair to beat, especially as they enjoyed one of their best years in 2011.
They won two slam titles for the second year running after a three year run of solitary major wins, maintaining a clear lead over Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi in the rankings that a first round exit in the Tour Finals only slightly took the shine off. People looking at the Australian open 2012 betting should remember this.
Veterans Mirnyi and Nestor are also playing some of the best tennis of their long doubles careers. Winners at Roland Garros and the Tour Finals, they possess the same classical left-hand-right-hand combination that characterises the Bryan Brothers’ partnership and they are benefitting from changing from successful partnerships in the twilight of their careers. Those looking at the latest tennis prices should bear this in mind.
The only big name from the singles tour in the top 20 of the ATP doubles rankings is Jurgen Melzer. The Austrian’s singles form has somewhat collapsed since reaching the top 10 of the rankings and is burgeoning pairing with Philipp Petzchner might be partly to blame. They have not come close to the Australian title and Melzer might soon choose to concentrate more on his singles game.
Nenad Zimonjic and Michael Llodra are two of the canniest doubles operators around and will expect to improve on their quarter final effort last year. Indian pair Leander Paes and Manesh Bhupathi is another partnership that proves experience counts, although Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau are a developing team that will seek to step into the gap that the raft of veterans will leave wheb they hang up their racquets.
