Heliovaara/Patten's excitement at facing Djokovic: ‘Does the ball come back?’

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten are well accustomed to facing the world’s best doubles teams on the biggest stages in tennis, but the two-time major winners will experience something new on Wednesday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

For the first time in each of their respective careers, Heliovaara and Patten will stand across the net from Novak Djokovic, who is partnering Fernando Verdasco in the final event of the latter’s pro career. The wild card pairing of Djokovic and Verdasco are hoping to upset the second seeds Heliovaara and Patten, who did not hide their excitement about the second-round encounter at the hard-court ATP 500.

“It’s going to be awesome,” Patten told ATPTour.com in Doha. “Of course, there are going to be lots of people watching and lots of media stuff around, so that’s great for doubles, it’s great for us. We will go out there and try and take it to them I reckon, show them what it’s all about.”

Heliovaara added: “[Marin] Cilic and [Stan] Wawrinka are the two Grand Slam singles champions I played in the past. I played [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Alexander] Zverev, some top guys, but I think it is safe to say Novak is another level. It’s going to be different. I’m sure the crowd will be big supporting him, but I’m so excited.”

Heliovaara and Patten could hardly have enjoyed a better start to life as a team on the ATP Tour. Since first partnering in Marrakech last April, the pair has won five tour-level crowns, including two major titles at 2024 Wimbledon and the 2025 Australian Open. Yet they are still wary of taking on the 99-time tour-level singles titlist Djokovic and Verdasco, who himself is a former No. 7 in singles and a former No. 8 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings.

“The singles guys are difficult to play because they hit the ball so well from the baseline, and when you are playing doubles guys, they generally don’t do that,” explained Patten. “At the same time, they might not be so used to reacting at the net, they might not be used to the patterns that doubles players usually play.

“It’s going to be interesting. I’m just looking forward to seeing how [Djokovic] hits the ball, to be honest. It should be alright.”

The current leaders in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings after their Australian Open title run, Heliovaara and Patten are seeking to extend a seven-match winning streak in Wednesday’s encounter in Doha. They spoke candidly about the constant work they put in with their team to strive for improvements, no matter how small.

“There are always things to work on. I think I would guess after our match today, we might probably try and look to up our first-serve percentage,” said Patten after he and Heliovaara defeated Tallon Griekspoor and Adam Pavlasek 7-6(4), 6-3 in their Doha opener.

As his partner quickly pointed out, they could hardly have a better opponent than Djokovic to do that against.

“What a challenge. We improve our service game and now we play one of the best returners ever and see how it feels,” joked Heliovaara. “Does the ball come back?”