2026 Doubles

Some fun mixed in the United Cup. Not sure why tennistv doesn't post other highlights video on their YT account:

They have longer highlights if you have a tennistv account.
 
A lot of interesting pairings on women's side too. Pavs plays with Tauson, Maria with Boisson, Kenin with Siegemund (despite the fact that Siegemund's most successeful partner Zvonareva is back on tour again), Babos (who I though retired, there was a lot of tears in the end of the WTA's finals) with Fernandez, and Krejcikova with McNally (could be a fantastic team).
 
ey039524 said:
AO posted the entry list: https://www.tennis.com.au/content/dam/tennisaustralia/documents/elite-player/AO26 men's doubles main draw entry list.pdf

Harrison and Skupski are a new team to watch out for. Lots of mixing from teams outside of the top 10. It's going to be interesting to see who can click this year.
Click to expand...
Harrison is a Top 10 talent, and Skupski is quite an upgrade for him.

Harrison is a stronger returner than Salisbury. Would not surprise me if this pairing bags a slam.

Two musclebound dudes with heavy racquets.
 
ey039524 said:
...........Harrison and Skupski are a new team to watch out for. Lots of mixing from teams outside of the top 10. It's going to be interesting to see who can click this year.
Click to expand...
Yah man, looking forward to the new season. It should be interesting for the reasons you state but also to see how the more familiar pairings will do.
Glasspool / Cash march on in Brisbane, through to the qf- will they win the title?
 
Tallawah Tennis said:
Yah man, looking forward to the new season. It should be interesting for the reasons you state but also to see how the more familiar pairings will do.
Glasspool / Cash march on in Brisbane, through to the qf- will they win the title?
Click to expand...
The defending champs have never won a straight-set match in a Brisbane, but also undefeated there.
 
travlerajm said:
Harrison is a Top 10 talent, and Skupski is quite an upgrade for him.

Harrison is a stronger returner than Salisbury. Would not surprise me if this pairing bags a slam.

Two musclebound dudes with heavy racquets.
Click to expand...

You're right about Harrison's returns. He needs to improve his net play, though. On many points, it took him 2 or 3 tries to put away a volley. Most seasoned dub players only need one. Coco played great, it's too bad she's not still playing dubs. I particularly liked Tsitsipas' shank winner on set point, that not only did he not apologize for, but claimed, haha.
 
Most of the top teams skipped the first week this year. With those who played opting Brisbane over Hong Kong.

In week 2, every top team opted for Adelaide, relegating Auckland to second tier. Travel proximity to a Melbourne a major factor.
 
As a big Cash & Glasspool fan, pretty disappointed they've been on an untelevised court for every match this week so far. Kind of inevitable with the men's ATP event being a 250 and sharing a venue with a WTA 500, but the ATP should be able to find a way to show the No.1 doubles team in the world on Tennis TV...
 
Bardland said:
As a big Cash & Glasspool fan, pretty disappointed they've been on an untelevised court for every match this week so far. Kind of inevitable with the men's ATP event being a 250 and sharing a venue with a WTA 500, but the ATP should be able to find a way to show the No.1 doubles team in the world on Tennis TV...
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Ditto to your comment, man. C & G are a favourite pair and it stinks that the live coverage has been limited on TTV. That said, should be a good finals match with 2 'real' dubs teams competing. Hope the defending champions prevail.

I've watched a bit of the business end of the United Cup, and the dubs match between USA / Poland was entertaining. Kawa/Zielinski were excellent, the latter showcasing his attacking game.

www.atptour.com

Poland takes revenge on United States to reach United Cup final | ATP Tour | Tennis

Poland has advanced to its third consecutive United Cup final after avenging its defeat in last year’s championship tie against the United States Saturday night in Sydney.
www.atptour.com www.atptour.com
 
Nah man, not this time - G & C losing their Brisbane title in a tight match 8-10 in the decider. Still, good job to contest the title, looking ready for the AO.

travlerajm said:
The defending champs have never won a straight-set match in a Brisbane, but also undefeated there.
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Indeed so, and they took the first loss in a decider too.

Couldn't find a meaningful highlights clip. This summary only has a clip of the winning moment.
WARNING - RANT ahead!: It's clear that dubs aren't given adequate attention but this level of neglect is disappointing. Neither the ATP site or the tournament site could provide decent highlights for the dubs final. The only highlights for the dubs at Brisbane on TTV that I could see was for the Kyrgios / Kokannakis match, and they lost in R 16! Anyway, there was write up at least....

www.atptour.com

Cabral/Miedler upset Cash/Glasspool to clinch Brisbane crown | ATP Tour | Tennis

Francisco Cabral and Lucas Miedler have picked up where they left off in 2025.
www.atptour.com www.atptour.com

Meanwhile the United Cup has been well covered on TTV including the dubs. Just watching the deciding match for the title. Well contested first set, but Poland has been more incisive, taking the 1st set 6/4, breaking Switzerland to go ahead in the 2nd. Momemtum now grasped firmly. Let's see if they can proceed to clinch it in straights. Zielinski has been up for it, but impressed by Kawa too. The Polish fans have no doubt added much needed energy. Bencic has had a lot of match play/carried the Swiss, possibly running out of steam now.
Edit: Poland won in straights, 3rd time lucky and title settled by the dubs match. Good job Zielinsk/Kawa.

www.atptour.com

Highlights: Poland's Hurkacz defeats Switzerland's Wawrinka, levels United Cup 2026 final | ATP Tour | Tennis

Watch Hubert Hurkacz earn victory at the United Cup on Sunday. Watch live & on-demand at tennistv.com.
www.atptour.com www.atptour.com
 
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If you're a doubles fan, you have to have a tennis tv subscription. Even then, you only have access to full matches, no highlights made anymore. I usually fast forward to tiebreaks or watch breaks of serve.
 
Luke Johnson will partner this year with Jan Zielinski, an upgrade over Arends that should help him finish Top 20 in 2026.

Johnson is one of the best doubles returners, and with Zielinski they will be tough to hold serve against. Zielinski has made the AO final before, so this team might make a deep run in Australia.
 
New pair Harrison/Skupski will get their first test against a top team today against the Germans K/P. I like the muscle guys to pull off the upset.

The Italians B/V have been playing the best level out of the gate. They outdueled A/P in the first meeting this year between top teams.

B/V opened as big underdogs for the semi against H/P. The odds have narrowed, and based on form the first couple of rounds, I expect B/V to win today in a mild upset.

I’m hoping that H/P can rediscover their peak form in time for the slam next week, and wouldn’t be surprised if these two finalists from last year end up meeting again in the business end of the AO.
 
lacoster said:
With the Olympics just two years away in LA, I wonder if Harrison/King would reunite as a team. They had quite a breakthrough year last season - they just needed to play the pressure points a bit better.
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They are the two highest ranked Americans at the moment, but two years is a long time. Harrison is still pretty young, but I was shocked to learn that king is quite old already.
 
The semis and final in Adelaide have been under the canvas roof, which makes upsets less likely. Less wind and sun to impact results.
 
H/P improved their dominance level each round as they shake off the off-season rust. They routined K/P.

Adelaide marks their 3rd consecutive title after dominating Paris and Turin to close out 2025.

Arribage/Olivetti upset Erler/Galloway to take Auckland title. This feels like less an upset and more regression to the mean.
 
Heh, heh, two weeks into the season and it's been a hive of activity already. United Cup (Kawa/ Zielinski); Brisbane (Cabral/Miedler); Hong Kong (Musetti/Sonego); Auckland ( Arribage / Olivetti) and Adelaide
(Heliovaara /Patten). Pleased some of my dudes are already in fine fettle.

Found this summary of the dubs wins in Auckland and Adelaide :


With the AO upon us, my chosen ones are: Cash/Glasspool; Arevalo/Pavic; Herbert / Thompson( like them but unlikely to go deep); Harrison/Skupski; Ebden/Ram (supporting the oldie-unlikely to go deep); Helio / Patten; Johnson / Zielinski; Krawietz/Putz. Hope I've not shared a kiss of death in supporting them!

www.atptour.com

Theo Arribage/Albano Olivetti clinch Auckland crown | ATP Tour | Tennis

Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti captured their maiden tour-level title of the season on Saturday when they earned a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over Alexander Erler and Robert Galloway in the ASB Classic final in Auckland.
www.atptour.com www.atptour.com

The kick off tomorrow sees many of my picks playing-let's see if they avoided the kiss of death!

Will be interesed to see how Venus gets on in her doubles pairing with Alexandrova. When I read she is playing, remembered when she and Serena dominated. Won a staggering 3 Olympic Golds; 14 GS titles including all 4 events and were never beaten in a GS final. Remember they weren't bad in singles either.
 
I think the Williams benefitted from the era. The women weren't used to the pace and getting drilled at the net. Less effective today.
 
ey039524 said:
I think the Williams benefitted from the era. The women weren't used to the pace and getting drilled at the net. Less effective today.
Click to expand...
you think there wasn't much pace in the women's game in 2016? That was the year of their last slam win at Wimbledon(of course they were unseeded since they barely played any doubles outside of Wimbledon that year. and they lost only one set). They won dubs slams over an 18 year period, spanned many eras, beat many great dubs teams.

Looks like many of the top dubs players of today were in the draw in '16 - Errani(who had already won 5 majors at that point), Hsieh, Ostapenko, Mertens, Siniakova, Zhang, Siegemund, Mladenovic, Babos, Krunic, Schuurs, Melichar, Dabrowski, Kichenok

And people still get drilled at the net today. It's a big play of Paolini, she crushes returns at the net girl all the time(made Schneider cry at last year's RG). If its effective for Paolini(who really just plays singles on a dubs court, Errani is the one who employs trad dubs strategy) I'm sure Venus/Serena of 10 years ago would do just fine vs this field. Ostapenko also basically just plays singles on a dubs court, and is doing very well.
 
Los hermanos Cerundolo take down the veteran #8 seed N/RV in R1. Didn’t have that one on my bingo card.

Both bro’s wielding extended 380sw clubs. Good for ripping heavy returns and executing singles-on-a-doubles court strategy.
 
Moose Malloy said:
you think there wasn't much pace in the women's game in 2016? That was the year of their last slam win at Wimbledon(of course they were unseeded since they barely played any doubles outside of Wimbledon that year. and they lost only one set). They won dubs slams over an 18 year period, spanned many eras, beat many great dubs teams.

Looks like many of the top dubs players of today were in the draw in '16 - Errani(who had already won 5 majors at that point), Hsieh, Ostapenko, Mertens, Siniakova, Zhang, Siegemund, Mladenovic, Babos, Krunic, Schuurs, Melichar, Dabrowski, Kichenok

And people still get drilled at the net today. It's a big play of Paolini, she crushes returns at the net girl all the time(made Schneider cry at last year's RG). If its effective for Paolini(who really just plays singles on a dubs court, Errani is the one who employs trad dubs strategy) I'm sure Venus/Serena of 10 years ago would do just fine vs this field. Ostapenko also basically just plays singles on a dubs court, and is doing very well.
Click to expand...
I think it's more prevalent today, especially after the sisters introduced that strategy of play, that didn't exist when they came onto tour. Doubles players at the time weren't used to it. Now, they are.
 
No real upsets, yet. The two dangerous Dutch singles players, who play a lot of doubles, took out the 11 seed, but not really surprising, given their talent.

Bummed to see local socal girl Krawcyzk and her new partner Gadecki draw Ostapenko/Hsieh and go down in straights.
 
ey039524 said:
No real upsets, yet. The two dangerous Dutch singles players, who play a lot of doubles took out the 11 seed, but not really surprising, given their talent...
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Yah man, Griekspoor/ Van de Zandschulp are a good dubs team. TG is out of the singles, so can focus on the dubs but but BvdZ still in the draw.
Pleased to see the following through: Zielinkski / Johnson; Krawitz/Putz; Harrison/Skupski; Ram/Ebden; Cash/Glasspool.
Ones to watch: Arevalo/Pavic; Patten/Heliovaara; Thompson/ Herbert; Bolelli/ Vavassori.
 
travlerajm said:
The Top 5 seeds are through without dropping a set.

But #7 seed Italians B/V dumped by the big-serving 6’5” German muscleman Hendrik Jebens and the under-ranked and rising young Taiwanese doubles specialist Ray Ho.
Click to expand...
First big upset of the tournament. Shocked to see that result. Vava is the #1 seed w errani in mixed, but they drew a tough first round matchup w Roger Vasselin and Laura siegmund, who are both great dubs players.
 
Enjoyed today's (or yesterday's, depending on your perspective) match for the US collegiate pair of Cash/Tracy. Really good points, many w/ all 4 at the net. They're going to have their hands full against (presumably) Granollers/Zeballos, but should be another fun match.
 
#2 seeds women are out (the Italians). Same w former mixed champs Hsieh/zielinski. Bummed bc I like Hsieh. Hate that she's playing w ostapenko again.
 
New tandem Johnson/Zielinsky seems like the biggest threat remaining to upset old guard heavyweights A/P and represent the depleted top half of the draw.

Bottom half seeds are relatively unscathed.

#3 G/Z vs #14 Cash/Tracy is a pivotal R16 matchup. If the match is played in extreme heat, I might favor the young guns. But if temps are more normal, gotta expect the 2-time slam champ vets to make it through, and be more of a threat to represent the bottom half in the final.

New pair Harrison/Skupski are scary in the conditions that favor good returners, with both guys very high-sw compared to the field.

Defending champs H/P survived a scare in the extreme heat against Erler/Galloway, with all 4 players struggling to play well in the conditions.
 
Tuesday forecast is for another heat spike high of 109F.

Upsets are much more likely when the conditions spike to extremes, so the scheduling of the matches over the next 2-3 days will have an impact on who advances to the business end of the tournament.

By next Sunday, the final should be played in cooler indoor-like conditions.
 
Some unexpected progressions, man. Nouza / Riki enjoying a good run, taking higher ranked scalps en- route including a straight sets win over Heliovaara/Patten. How will they fare against Skupski / Harrison in the qf? The qf with Arevalo/Pavic and Zielinski / Johnson should be interesting – anticipating A/P will get through, but wouldn't be surprised if Z/J topple them. Granollers / Zeballos with another useful run.
 
A day of upsets. The top semi now has no seeded teams. Harrison/skupski look strong, considering this is their first slam together.

On the women's side, #1 seeds, siniakova/Townsend are out by the team I feared, Danilina and partner. Also Hsieh/ostapenko are out.

Mixed also had upsets: pavic/Stefani were the highest seed left and are out. Townsend/mektic lost 11-13 in the match TB.
 
Yah man,Zielinski’s excellent season continues. Z / J wasted little time in stamping their authority in the 2nd set, to take it in straights. Odd performance by A/P- playing a tight first set, losing the tiebreak by the narrowest of margins 7-5, after an errant shot and their opponents held serve to clinch it. As though unnerved by losing the 1st, they were error-prone/snatching at shots in the face of the attacking yet composed efforts by Z/J.
Skupski / Harrison did not opt for the scenic route either, outplaying Nouza / Riki for a comfortable win. They play Granollers / Zeballos next – should be well contested.
 
Yah man, excellent win by S/H in straights – have played with focus and intent, bonded well. Just a shame to see a semi being played in an almost empty stadium.
Enjoyed the other semi - the home wild cards Kubler / Polmans played with energy, belief. Despite being down an early break in the 3rd, they found momentum to clinch the win, breaking back in the 2nd game. A fuller stadium/home crowd support no doubt buoyed them up. Zielinski / Johnson have had a good start of the season, interested to see how they get on in the remaining season.

Will S/H be the last pair standing or will the Aussie pair raise the roof as the home boys, and create magic as wild card winners? Promises to be an interesting final.
 
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