So after the dust has settled, a grand total of THREE singles pairs reached the round of 16 in the Madrid doubles. Korda and Thompson upset the top seeds, but Thompson has won three doubles titles this year, so I don't see him as a singles only player.
Hassan and Shelbayh, and Karatsev (in his first match since January) and Zhang also upset high seeds. Hassan/Shelbayh were serving bombs, and Zhang has had some great doubles results.
Meanwhile the likes of Bublik and Shapovalov could be seen giggling on court in their comprehensive defeat by Murray and Venus.
Sadly Fritz and Shelton pulled out at the last minute (plus ca change), or otherwise Heliovaara and Patten could have got in. There were only 2 alternate pairs choosing to hang around in Madrid, so Molchanov and Smith got in.
So in conclusion, what a fuss over nothing. Normal service will resume in Rome.
One more win and Zeballos and Granollers will go equal number one in the ranking for both of their first ever times. Ive always thought they are good players and think Wimbledon could be a good one for them to win this year. Theyve been runners up twice before and their games well suited to it. Could well go in as top seeds this year for the FO and Wimbledon.