Doubles Take: Ram-Salisbury taste victory in Monte Carlo; Badosa-Sabalenka open Stuttgart with win

The top men’s duo solidifies its spot in the game, while the women show their national pride. All this and more in this week’s Doubles Take.

A FEAT ON CLAY

After months of chasing down the top spot in the men’s rankings, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury finally achieved that goal before last week’s first Masters 1000 event of the year on clay in Monte Carlo.

The American-English duo started off the tournament strong, winning their first two matches in straight sets. In the semifinals, however, they were pushed to the brink of defeat before rallying against the veterans Jamie Murray and Rohan Bopanna. Reaching their first final of the year, Ram and Salisbury would face Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who knocked off Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, the former number-one-ranked duo, in the quarters. Ram and Salisbury claimed the opening set before “Colombian Power” rallied to take it to a match tiebreak. In the end, though, it was the top seeds who prevailed as they won their first title together on clay to cap off a week full of noteworthy accomplishments.

SQUAD GOALS

Qualifying rounds across the globe were played in the Billie Jean King Cup, the women’s international team event. While the tournament has adapted many of the changes the Davis Cup has undergone, the doubles remains the last rubber to be played in a tie. Many of the outcomes were determined before then, but in a couple, it was up to the on-court duos to send their teams on to the Finals.

After dropping their first two singles matches against the U.S., Ukraine rallied to force a live fifth rubber. However, they couldn’t complete the upset as Jessica Pegula and U.S. team debutant Asia Muhammad won in straight sets over Lyudmyla Kichenok and Dayana Yastremska. After a back-and-forth affair in the singles ties, the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova defeated Harriet Dart and Katie Swan of Great Britain to put the 11-time title winners on track to potentially secure another victory

THIS WEEK

The WTA returns to regular-tour competition, with one of its biggest events of the clay-court stretch, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. The top seeds are as an intriguing a pair as you’ll find: Young American Coco Gauff is teaming up with the veteran Zhang Shuai, a two-time major winner. Those two faced off in last year’s US Open final with their regular partners—Caty McNally and Samantha Stosur, respectively—by their sides. Gauff and Zhang could potentially face Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa in the quarters. Sabalenka and Badosa defeated Ellen Perez and Ons Jabeur to launch their title quest.

Second seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs—two of the best in the game who have appeared to still be in the adjustment phase when they’ve played together this year—have gotten off to a good start, easily winning their first-round match. The other tournament on the women’s calendar is in Istanbul, Turkey, where Indian Wells champs and Miami finalists Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens are the top seeds, followed by McNally and Alison van Uytvanck.

The men are in Barcelona for one of the premier 500-level events on tour. Ram and Salisbury will be out to win their second tournament in as many weeks as they headline the draw. If they make it past their opener, they’ll face this year’s title leaders, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, in a blockbuster quarterfinal. Second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are already out as they lost to one of 2022’s breakout duos, Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni. And at the Serbia Open in Belgrade, Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic—looking for their first title in nine months—are the top seeds, followed by Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini.