Doubles Take: Charleston, Andalucia and more

The clay-court season is officially in full swing for the ATP and WTA tours. Doubles Take is here with a look at the latest results.

RECAPTURING THAT FAMILIAR FEELING

After a solid start to their 2021 campaign, Demi Schuurs and Nicole Melichar went 1-2 in their last two events on hard courts, with that mark including a first-round loss at the Miami Open.

Starting off their clay-court run in Charleston, S.C., the top seeds almost lost another early match as they were forced to rally and win their opener in a match tie break. From there, though, the pair rolled in their next two matches to set up a final-round encounter against Lucie Hradecka and Marie Bouzkova. Maintaining their form, Schuurs and Melichar took the match in straight sets, making it as good a time as any to celebrate.

Melichar and Schuurs now have two titles on the year, following their Qatar triumph, and will be looking to build upon this run in the weeks ahead.

TWICE AS NICE

Lorenzo Sonego was a man inspired last week, playing on home soil at the Sardegna Open in Italy. Not only did he win his second career singles title, but he added a first doubles triumph, as well.

Sonego and his compatriot Andrea Vavassori upset the top seeds Marcelo Melo and Jean-Julien Rojer—who own 64 doubles titles between them—in the first round and never looked back. The Italians, each of whom were playing in their first career doubles final, beat their more established countryman Simone Bolelli and Andres Molteni in straight sets. Sonego came away from the tournament with a whole bunch of hardware and also earned a very special honor.

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Michaela Buzurnescu and Anna-Lena Friedsam played through to their expected spot in the draw at the Copa Colsanitas tournament in Bogota, Colombia, reaching their second final together after Rome last year.

In the championship match, they faced Elixane Lechemia and Ingrid Neel, both of whom were playing in their first career final at the WTA level. The heavy underdogs, who had to battle through match tiebreaks in the quarters and semis, had all the answers in the final as they upset the second seeds in straight sets.

Neel, a 22-year-old from the United States, and Lechemia, 29, of France are definitely at different points of their careers, but showed that it’s never too late for a breakthrough.

AMAZING IN ANDALUCIA

Heading into 2021, Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar had firmly established themselves at the Challenger level, winning eight titles the last two years. And it seems their partnership is well-suited for the ATP Tour: Behar and Escobar just won their second event of the year, from three finals, in Andalucia, Spain.

Unseeded at the inaugural edition of the tournament, the duo battled through a first-round match, then cruised from there, culminating with a straight-sets win over Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic in the final. Behar and Escobar, who were the surprise champions in Delray Beach on hard courts to start the year, won’t be catching too many teams unaware of what they can do now.

THIS WEEK

The men are playing their second Masters event of the year—and first on clay—in Monte Carlo, where all eyes will be on Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic. The second seeds behind Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah have won four titles together so far in 2021—all on hard courts—and will be making their clay-court debut. Mektic has won Monte Carlo before and Pavic is a two-time French Open finalist, so the surface shouldn’t pose a problem. The Croatians open up their campaign against singles stars Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin, one of several such pairings in the tournament.

The WTA is at a quite-familiar stop. For the second week in a row, the women are playing in Charleston; this time, a 250-level event. The top seeds at this inaugural tournament are Ellen Perez and Storm Sanders, who are already through to the quarterfinals. Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria—who’ve reached two finals together in their careers, including one earlier this year in St. Petersburg, Russia—are the second seeds.