Doubles Take: Rounding up Houston, Biel & more

Doubles Take looks at the teams in action on the ATP and WTA tours each week, and previews the action on the horizon.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A WINNER

The draw at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship was absolutely loaded: Bob and Mike Bryan were the top seeds, with Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the two spot. Plus, there were a few veteran pairings among the unseeded, such as Robert Lindstedt/Scott Lipsky and Nicholas Monroe/Artem Sitak that were capable of making a run at the title.

It was the least-heralded of them all, fan faves Dustin Brown and Frances Tiafoe, that came close to winning it all. With Brown pulling out winners like this from his bag of tricks, you knew they’d be hard to stop.

The No. 4 seeds, Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos, however, had the answer. In the semis, they defeated the six-time Houston champs Bob and Mike Bryan. The Chilean-Argentine pairing won their fourth title as a team with a 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 thriller over Brown and Tiafoe.

AN "EGG-CELLENT" ADVENTURE IN SWITZERLAND

The Easter weekend was a fun one—and a triumphant one, too—for the team of Su-Wei Hsieh and Monica Niculescu at the new WTA stop, the Ladies Open Biel Bienne in Switzerland. The No. 2 seeds edged past the Swiss Misses, Timea Bacsinszky and Martina Hingis, in the final by a 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 score.

For the former doubles No. 1 Hsieh, it’s her second title of the year, after going win-less in 2016, while Niculescu won her first doubles title of 2017.

The team’s competitive spirit showed on an Easter egg hunt throughout the town.

Opponents then, champions now.

THE PERFECT DAVIS CUP REBOUND

Dominic Inglot was part of the team from Great Britain that just lost to France in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. In fact, he was on the court as the French clinched the victory, as he and Jamie Murray lost the critical doubles tie.

There’s nothing like a title, though, to help wipe away the sting of defeat.

At the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakesh, Morocco, Inglot and Mate Pavic of Croatia captured the tournament with a 6-4, 2-6, 11-9 win over Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez.

COMING UP BIG IN BOGOTA

The Copa Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia, is quite the friendly venue for Beatriz Haddad Maia. The young Brazilian won her first WTA doubles title there back in 2015 and has now added a second to her collection. Teaming up with Nadia Podoroska of Argentina, the duo made the most of their wildcard status, beating another unseeded pair—Veronica Cepede Royg and Magda Linette—in the final.

It’s the first WTA title—singles or doubles—for Podoroska.

Perhaps she’ll come to find the tournament as welcoming as her partner does.

NEWS AND NOTES

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises early on in the season was the announcement that 2016 French Open champions Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic would be splitting up. Now, in an interview with L’Equipe, Garcia sheds some light on what happened, along with some dealings between her and the rest of the French Fed Cup team.

A LOOK AHEAD

The men are in Monte Carlo this week for the third ATP Masters 1000 event of the year—and the first on clay. Like Indian Wells, plenty of singles stars are in the doubles draw, such as Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov,  and the team of Stan Wawrinka and Fabio Fognini, who took out veterans Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor already on the first day of play.

The top eight seeds look like last year’s ATP World Tour Finals with Henri Kontinen/John Peers and Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut leading the way.

For the women, it’s time for the Fed Cup semifinals. The U.S. plays the Czech Republic, while Belarus hosts Switzerland. Top-20 doubles players Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Katerina Siniakova will surely feature in the U.S.-Czech Republic matchup. For Switzerland, Hingis will anchor the Swiss squad on the doubles side.