The French pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut have been named VAVEL USA's Doubles team for the month of March after winning the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open double for the very first time.
Maiden Masters Title
The successful French pair, Hugues-Herbert and Mahut, came into the desert with high hopes. This win was also Mahut's second ATP World Tour doubles title, after partnering Vasek Pospisil to win Rotterdam last month.
Their month started with a straight sets victory against Grigor Dimitrov and his experienced partner Max Mirnyi, before being encountered in a tough match against veterans Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek. They came away 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 winners. The quarterfinals saw an all- French affair as the number seven seeds came up against alternative pair Fabrice Martin and Jeremy Chardy. The pairing of Herbert and Mahut came away as comfortable winners. Eight seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Nenad Zimonjic pushed the 2015 US Open champions to a deciding set breaker in the semifinal. The French rallied and came from a set down to book their spot in the final winning 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.
The French pair were coming up against last year's victors, Vasek Pospisil and his partner Jack Sock. Herbert and Mahut were no match for the North American pairing as they ran away with the match 6-3, 7-6(5) and claimed their first Masters 1000 title as a team. The French pair needed only one break to seal the first set, whilst in the second they were pushed to a tiebreaker, in which they came away 7-5 winners to clinch their first Masters title as a team. The French duo executed the big points extremely well during the match.
Herbert and Mahut continue their stellar month to capture the double
For any team, winning Indian Wells would be a fantastic month, but for Herbert and Mahut they did not want the success to stop as they aimed to win back-to-back titles.
Herbert and Mahut did not show any signs of fatigue as they raced away to straight sets victory in their opening two matches. In the quarterfinal match up, Martin and Chardy, who lost to the pair in Indian Wells, were hoping to fair better. The number five seeds were being tested by their French team mates, but managed to pass the test and come away with a 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 10-7 win to set up a popcorn match with the Bryan Bros. The American pair couldn't find their rhythm in the match as they were well beaten and the VAVEL USA's Doubles Team of the Month had the opportunity to win the double. They came up against Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.
Herbert and Mahut clinched the title 5-7, 6-1, 10-7 and became the first team since the Bryans in 2014 to win Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back. The Frenchmen have now won 10 consecutive matches and four tour-level titles. With this victory, Mahut claimed his 13th overall title, while Herbert earned his fifth. Herbert and Mahut had chances to break in the opening set, but Klaasen and Ram stopped them and they took their chances and broke to take the first set. The second was dominated by the French as they leveled. They carried their momentum into the champions breaker and they won with Mahut hitting a forehand volley winner.
