Top rankings up for grabs in Miami

The doubles action at the Miami Open is heating up – with both the men’s and women’s top ranking up for grabs.

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands has held the women’s doubles top spot for 12 weeks entering Miami, but could lose it after an upset second round loss in her title defence with Czech partner Lucie Safarova.

Russian duo Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova now have the chance to rise to co-No.1s if they win the title. The experienced duo, who won an Olympic gold medal and the WTA Finals last year, have lost just four games so far to reach the quarterfinals.

Indian Sania Mirza, who held the top spot for 91 weeks before being surpassed by Mattek-Sands in January, told WTA Insider the evenness at the top of the women’s rankings was good for the sport.

“Makarova and Vesnina have done everything except become No.1. They won gold, Slams, Singapore, but never became No.1,” Mirza said. “I think that shows the amount of competition that you see in women’s doubles. People don’t talk enough about how, unlike men’s doubles, a lot of our field is dominated by singles players. Whether it’s Bara (Strycova) or Kiki (Mladenovic), they’re all top 20 singles player who play doubles at a very high level.

“You look at the top 10 doubles rankings and most of them have been or are top 30 singles players. That shows the depth in women’s doubles and how it tough it really is. It’ll be amazing no matter who becomes No.1.”

A change is guaranteed at the top of the men’s doubles rankings – it is now a question of who will rise to No.1.

Frenchman Nicolas Mahut’s 38-week reign will end after he and partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert did not defend their Miami title. A leg injury to Herbert forced them to withdraw from the tournament after their first round win.

Depending on results this week, Mahut could slip to as low as No.7.

Finland’s Henri Kontinen looks most likely to become the new world No.1, despite a second-round loss this week. After rising to a new career-high of No.2 last week, the reigning Australian Open champion could become the first No.1 from his country. However American veterans Bob and Mike Bryan can surpass him and regain the No.1 spot if they win the Miami title.

The Bryan brothers hold the record for most weeks at No.1, yet it is a position they have not co-held since October 2015.