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Australian Open Men's Doubles Players

Mike Bryan (R) of the US plays a backhand while his teammate Bob Bryan of the US looks on during the men's doubles final match of the Australian Open tennis tournament January 2009 will see the top contenders battle it out for the first Grand Slam title of the year, the Australian Open Men's Doubles championship.

Defending champions Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram won in the 2008 final 7–5, 7–6(4) against Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles.

Although the men's doubles event has been dominated by the American twins, Bob and Mike Bryan - they were defeated in the 2008 quarterfinals by Bhupathi and Knowles. There are still a couple of formidable opponents who could spoil their chances of picking up a third Australian Opens doubles title at the 2009 Australian Open.

Second ranked males doubles team in 2007, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, doubles greats Leander Paes and Martin Damm, currently ranked 4th in the world, and the runners-up to the 2007 Australian Open Men's Doubles title, Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi are all the very best Australian Open men's doubles players, and can contend the 2009 final with confidence.

Could the new surface, Plexicushion, have any relevance to the outcome of the men's doubles? The surface will replace the Rebound Ace of previous years and is expected to add more consistency to the pace and bounce of the court. A number of critics have claimed that the surface will be too much like the hard court surface, DecoTurf, used at the US Open. They will be expecting the speed of the court to increase, perhaps lending a hand to the younger generation of Australian Open men's doubles players who are slowly climbing the competitive ladder.

Decision makers at Tennis Australia have denied this and do not expect the Australian Open surfaces to exhibit any changes to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) classification of medium to medium fast.

The weather should not have too much of an effect on the outcome of the doubles. Heat has consistently been a problem for the Melbourne-based Grand Slam, and efforts have been made to limit the impact of this variable on the health and fitness of the players.

If history is anything to go by, then the American fraternity of Bryan and Bryan will surely have a winning chance of taking the title yet again. Or will Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram claim the 2009 Australian Open Men's Doubles Championship once again and end the Bryan family winning streak?

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