Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo began their campaign with a victory in the Woodbridge/Woodforde group as they beat Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers 7-6(2) 6-4 as they end the season the best team in the world.
The Polish-Brazilian pairing edged a tight first set as both teams fought to establish dominance in the opening set. The two teams met a couple of weeks ago in Paris and they once again produced the type of tennis that made the contest such a hard fought match.
Kubot and Melo provided the crowd with lightening quick returns as the top seeds won the first set tiebreak 7-2 as they looked to end the year the world number ones.
The top seeds once again proved why they are the team to beat as they stormed to a 4-1 lead in the second set as the seventh seeds had lost momentum that they gained earlier in the match.
However Dodig and Granollers proved why they have beaten many top teams this season and pulled the lead back to 3-4. Despite the break, it wasn’t enough as a string of Kubot returns sealed the match and the year end world number one ranking for Kubot and Melo.
After the match the pair praised their coaching team, “We have to thank our coaching team and physios. They have supported us through the season. I want to thank the crowd for being at the doubles before the singles. We are speechless.”
They have thoroughly deserved the end of year world number one having won six titles, which includes the Wimbledon title.
They will now meet the Bryan Brothers on Wednesday, who beat Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 7-5 6-7(3) 10-8 in the afternoon session.
The American duo won 11 of the last 12 points of the first set as they stole it, 7-5. The fourth seeds then came back from a break down to grab a tight second set tiebreak.
The Bryan Brothers, who are making their 16th appearance at the World Tour Finals, grabbed a tight match tiebreak 10-8 to seal their win. The win means Mike Bryan sealed his 1056th win of his career.
In the Eltingh/Haarhuis group, Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus edged out second seeds and defending champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers, 6-4 7-6(8).
The John Peers serve cost the defending champions as they start their London campaign with a defeat against World Tour Finals debutants Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus.
The Roland Garros champions will face French duo Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Tuesday as they beat current US Open Champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 1-6 7-6(7) 10-8.
The two time grand slam champions saved match point as they sealed their first match with victory as the top two seeds in this group fail to live up to expectation.
