Doubles Take: Favorites Barbora Krejcikova, Katerina Siniakova close in on Wimbledon title

As the draws wind down at the All England Club, Doubles Take looks at the latest results.

Coming into Wimbledon this year, the prospects couldn’t have been more different for the defending champions in men’s and women’s doubles.

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, who won their first Grand Slam title together last year at the tournament, were the team to beat during the grass-court season, while two-time champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova had barely played together the past several months.

The second seeds in their respective draws do have something in common, however: They’re both in the semifinals now surrounded by teams ready to challenge for the title.

Unlike at the recently completed French Open, there are few, if any, surprises among the teams left in both draws. Aside from a blip at Roland Garros, Mektic and Pavic have once again proven they’re the team to beat the past couple of months after suffering through a prolonged slump. Their road to this stage hasn’t been a cakewalk—as seen by their five-set tussle in the third round against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara. Still, the Croatians have made it this far and next face 2019 Wimbledon winners Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who got by the only unseeded team left on the men’s side, Americans Jack Sock and Denis Kudla, in the quarters. Top-ranked Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury face veterans Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, the 12th seeds, for a spot in the semis against the winner of the Matt Ebden/Max Purcell-John Peers/Filip Polasek match.

Krejcikova and Siniakova will take on Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko in the final four. The fourth seeds contested two title bouts during this year’s grass-court stretch, and have been battling this whole tournament as they’ve been pushed to the distance in three of their four matches. Top seeds Elise Mertens and Shuai Zhang have gone the opposite route, taking every match in straights so far to set up a quarterfinal against Alexa Guarachi and Andreja Klepac, the seventh seeds. Unseeded Americans Danielle Collins and doubles standout Desirae Krawczyk will play Alicja Rosolska and Erin Routliffe, the 11th seeds who’ve played well on the grass this year.

At this point, it’s definitely a busy week for Krawcyzk, who’s back in the semifinals of mixed doubles as she and Neal Skupski look to defend their title. They’ll play Sania Mirza and Pavic, the sixth seeds, next, while Ebden and his partner, Sam Stosur, take on Coco Gauff and Jack Sock in the other semi.