Doubles Take: From Madrid to Rome

Doubles Take is here with a look at the latest results on the clay leading up to the French Open.

MADRID MASTERED

Over the past year, one of the most impressive performances as far as singles improvement goes has been that of Barbora Krejcikova, who’s firmly established herself as a member of the Top 50.

In case anyone might have forgotten, though, the Czech still has more than enough game on the doubles court, as she showed in Madrid last week with her longtime partner, countrywoman Katerina Siniakova.

Seeded second at the tournament, the duo won its first tournament on clay since the 2018 French Open by beating Demi Schuurs and Gabriela Dabrowski in the final. It’s the second title of 2021 for Krejcikova and Siniakova as both players keep striving, no matter the discipline.

CONTINUED CLAY SUCCESS

With a near sweep through the “Golden Swing” and an Italian Open title last year, Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers—who only started playing together on a full-time basis near the end of 2019—established themselves as one of the tour’s best teams on clay.

The Argentine-Spanish duo further solidified that claim in Madrid as they captured their third Masters 1000 title together.

Coming off a semifinal appearance in Monte Carlo, Granollers and Zeballos exacted revenge upon the team that beat them there, Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, in the final. The Croats, who’ve been on a history-making pace all year, were denied their third Masters title of 2021 in a match tiebreak. For Granollers and Zeballos, it’s their first victory of the year, having finished as the runners-up in Acapulco.

THIS WEEK

Both tours are in Rome for the last major tuneup before the French Open. On the men’s side, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah are the top seeds and will be looking to rebound from an early-round loss in Madrid. Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, who had their Masters 1000 winning streak snapped last weekend, are seeded second. There’s already been a big upset: Marcelo Demoliner and singles world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev beat sixth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.

Su-Wei Hsieh and new world No. 1 Elise Mertens are the top seeds in the women’s draw, followed by Madrid champs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova. After a week apart, Demi Schuurs and Nicole Melichar have reunited: Two-time winners this year, the Dutch-American duo is seeded third in Rome.