Doubles Take: Haddad Maia sweeps Nottingham trophies after triumphing with Zhang; Koolhof-Skupski bag fifth title of 2022

The first week of grass-court tennis is in the books. Doubles Take looks back and previews the week ahead on the road to Wimbledon.

A WEEKEND TO REMEMBER

Playing in her second career singles final—and first in nearly five years—in Nottingham, Beatriz Haddad Maia topped Alison Riske in three sets for her first tournament triumph.

As peak as an experience as that was, the Brazilian wasn’t done yet. And surely, you know where this is going—after all, it is Doubles Take.

Teaming up with Zhang Shuai, the top seeds defeated Caroline Dolehide and Monica Niculescu, the fourth seeds, in straight sets in the final. It was their third straight-sets win in four matches over the course of the week, with their tightest victory coming in the quarters against the veterans Latisha Chan and Samantha Stosur in a deciding tiebreak. Zhang came out in the battle of familiar faces in that one, as she and Stosur have won two Grand Slam titles together.

2022 to date has already been a career year for Haddad Maia, who reached her first Grand Slam final in Melbourne with Anna Danilina. She now has four doubles titles under her belt, while Zhang claimed her 12th.

IN PEAK MODE, ONCE AGAIN

For most of 2021, Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic dominated in their first year playing together. They hit a slump that carried over well into 2022, only snapping out of it right before the French Open when they won two titles heading into Paris.

After an early-round loss at Roland Garros, Pavic resurfaced in Stuttgart, Germany, last week, teaming up with Hubert Hurkacz. Though most of his success has come on the singles side, Hurkacz is no slouch when it comes to doubles, having won in Miami this year with John Isner. The third-seeded duo battled through its first three matches to set up a final against top seeds Tim Puetz and Michael Venus. The German-New Zealander pair was trying to win its fourth title together under as many different playing conditions. However, Pavic and Hurkacz were just too strong, notching the victory in a couple of tiebreaks.

The win marked Pavic’s third title in four tournaments and gets his grass-court prep off to a perfect start as he eyes a Wimbledon title defense soon with Mektic.

FANTASTIC FIVE

On the ATP Tour in 2022, the team that’s mirrored Pavic and Mektic’s run from last year, under similar circumstances, has been Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski. Each of them had been playing at a high level over the past couple of seasons before deciding to team up for this campaign. Success was immediate as they won their first two events together right out the gate

Coming off a strong clay-court stretch, which netted a first Masters 1000 title for each of them, the pair kicked off their grass-court season in Rosmalen, the Netherlands. Koolhof reached the final at his home tournament the last time the event was played, back in 2019. Seeded second with Skupski this year, the pair barely escaped the quarterfinal round, then breezed through the semis. Facing Aussies Matt Ebden and Max Purcell in the final, Skupski and Koolhof rallied to force a match tiebreak, then won it 10-6 to clinch their tour-leading fifth title of the year.

In a year of new moments, Skupski and Koolhof each won their first title on grass.

BATTLE-TESTED

Looking at the women’s draw in Den Bosch, anyone would have been hard-pressed to pick a winner from this loaded field.

Three of the top four seeds were all title winners in 2022, with the exception being Kaitlyn Christian and Giuliana Olmos, who claimed top prizes this year with different partners. There’s a reason, though, why athletes lace ‘em up: You never know what can happen, and, on occasion, an unseeded team can break through.

Just ask Ellen Perez and Tamara Zidansek.

The Aussie-Slovenian team fought through a couple of tough matches to reach the semis, then got past Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs, when the second seeds had to retire. In the final, they took on Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens, and won the first set against the top seeds. Kudermetova and Mertens forced a match tiebreak, which was as close as it gets, but in the end, fell 12-10. Both teams fought off championship points over the course of the contest.

Perez and Zidansek each won their fourth career titles, and first on grass. All of Zidansek’s have come under different playing conditions (hard, indoor hard, clay, grass).

THIS WEEK

Both tours have two tournaments on the grass once again this week. At the WTA event in Berlin, Storm Sanders and Katerina Siniakova are the top seeds, followed by Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos. The second seeds eked out a match tiebreak win in their opener to reach the quarters, as did Asia Muhammad and Ena Shibahara, the third seeds. Elise Mertens and Shuai Zhang headline the field in Birmingham, England, where Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko, the second seeds, are already through to the final eight.

The men are also in England for the long-running event at Queen’s Club in London. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, the top seeds, will take on Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in a blockbuster opening match. Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, the second seeds, face Jonny O’Mara and Ken Skupski—last week’s Nottingham champs—in a big first-round test. And in Halle, Germany, Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are the top seeds, followed by French Open champs Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer. Lurking among the unseeded teams out there are the home favorites, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, who’ve already won a tournament in Germany this year, in Munich. Krawietz is actually the defending champ in Halle, having won last year with Horia Tecau while Mies was sidelined due to injury.