TheSportsCampus

Indian tennis legends Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have been drawn in opposing groups for the doubles event at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

The tournament is a round robin format event with eight teams divided in two groups of four teams each. The eight seeds were determined b y the 2009 ATP Doubles Team Rankings as on Monday, 16 November 2009. The top seeds were placed in Group A and the second seeds in Group B. Teams seeded three and four, five and six, seven and eight, were then drawn in pairs with the first drawn placed in Group A.

Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles are the third seeds at the event and have been drawn in Group A alongside top seeds Daniel Nestor-Nenad Zimonjic. Reigning French Open and US Open champions Paes and Lukas Dlouhy are seeded fourth and are likely to face tough competition in Group B from the Bryan twins.

The round robin round will determine the four teams for the semi-finals with the format thereafter being an elimination competition. All four of the aforementioned teams will be favourites to make the semis though Group B on paper atleast looks the tougher of the two. The winner of each group will be placed in separate semifinal brackets, with the top team in Group A playing the runner-up in Group B, and vice versa. All matches are two sets (no ad) and match tie-break format.

Nestor and Zimonjic and the Bryans are meanwhile also locked in a battle to be crowned ATP World Tour Champions. The Wimbledon champions Nestor and Zimonjic have a healthy lead of 830 points going into the season finale, but there are 1,500 points on offer for any undefeated champion.

Speaking at the draw ceremony at the London Eye on Wednesday Bob Bryan said, "It was a spectacular place to do the draw with such an amazing view of London up there. We're really excited to be playing in the tournament at such a great venue. Every match from the first to the last is going to be really tough and we're looking forward to the challenge."

Group A: Daniel Nestor-Nenad Zimonjic, Mahesh Bhupathi-Mark Knowles, Frantisek Cermak-Michal Mertinak, Mariusz Fyrstenberg-Marcin Matkowski

Group B: Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan, Lukas Dlouhy-Leander Paes, Lukasz Kubot-Oliver Marach, Max Mirnyi-Andy Ram