Doubles Take presents your daily look at team play during the French Open.
In the second day of doubles play at the French Open, two of the biggest names in all of sport took to the court and didn’t disappoint.
Two-time French Open champions Venus and Serena Williams returned to Grand Slam play for the first time in two years. The sisters dropped the first set against the No. 14-seeded team of Shuko Aoyama and Miyu Kato, before turning it on to take the next two.
Some of the seeded teams that won across the different draws were Yung-jan Chan/Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, Oliver Marach/Mate Pavic and Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo.
Local favorites and number-six seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut eked out a win against Robert Lindstedt and Marcin Matkowski. It was Mahut’s 300th career doubles win.
Here’s a look at three matches that stand out on the schedule for Thursday's matches.
Lara Arruabarrena/Katarina Srebotnik vs. Elise Mertens/Demi Schuurs (12): It seems like Schuurs can play—and win—with anyone in 2018. She and Mertens took the title in Hobart at the beginning of the year on hard courts. The Dutchwoman’s had a strong run on the clay courts, too, winning Nurnberg just last week. Her partner? Srebotnik.