Doubles Take: Tours take to the court for tuneups

Until the suspension of play, Melbourne had been a hotbed of activity for the ATP and WTA players competing in doubles this week as they prepare for the Australian Open.

At the second annual edition of the ATP Cup, the majority of the teams had a doubles specialist or two on their rosters, with some of them—like Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos for Argentina, or France’s Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin—having proven success together. A lot of scratch pairings have taken to the court, with doubles standouts teaming up with singles players, such as Marcel Granollers and Pablo Carreno Busta, who’s actually strong in both disciplines. Top 15 singles talents Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov have also had to step up for Canada as a duo.

Both tours have also had multiple tournaments happening in Melbourne. At the Gippsland Trophy, a WTA 500-level event, the top seeds are Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, followed by Hao-Ching and Latisha Chan, the sisters who never returned to play last year post-shutdown. Both duos are among the eight teams through to the quarterfinals.

At the other WTA 500 tournament, the Yarra Valley Classic, the quarterfinal stage is also set. Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos, ended up not playing, leaving their section of the draw fairly open. The bottom half has a couple of blockbuster matchups: American teenagers Coco Gauff and Caty McNally will face Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara, the third seeds, who have already won a tournament this year. The other quarterfinal match in that section of the draw pits Ashleigh Barty and Jennifer Brady against Demi Schuurs and Nicole Melichar, the second seeds.

On the men’s side, the ATP 250-level tournament, the Great Ocean Road Open, sees Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah leading the field. The reunited duo of Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, the second seeds, have advanced to the quarterfinals. At the Murray River Open, top seeds Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic will look to keep their perfect start to their new partnership going. They next face a tough team in Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, the sixth seeds.

A couple of other new partnerships will be trying to find their footing. Wesley Koolhof and Lukasz Kubot are the second seeds and face Radu Albot and Egor Gerasimov first up. Kubot’s old partner, Marcelo Melo, is now playing with the two-time Grand Slam winner Horia Tecau. That team will next face the Americans Nicholas Monroe and Frances Tiafoe, who won their opening match against Nick Kyrgios and Matt Reid.