Doubles Take: US Open preview

The Grand Slam season comes to a close as the players hit the Big Apple for the US Open. Here’s a preview of what to expect from the men’s, women’s and mixed draws, Doubles Take-style.

THE MEN

Since they clinched their first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year, Henri Kontinen and John Peers have been leading draws ever since.  However, the top seeds in New York have gone the bulk of the year without another victory, until finally breaking their winless streak in Washington earlier this month.

They’re could run into Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, the seventh seeds who won Indian Wells this year, in the quarterfinals.

The top half of the draw also features Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, the defending champions.

Those two actually have quite an intriguing draw, as right off the bat, they face Austrian veterans Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya, both of whom have had success in New York. Throughout the rest of their quarter of the draw, there’s no clear-cut favorite. The sixth seeds are Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers, which is a bit surprising, as Dodig had a solid summer with Rohan Bopanna.

Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, arguably the team of the year, spearhead a packed bottom portion of the draw. The two have had success on every surface this season, including an unbeaten streak on grass that netted them their first Wimbledon title. They could face Bob and Mike Bryan, who’ve had a disappointing season, especially by their standards, in the quarterfinals.

The 2015 US Open champs Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut lurk in that half of the draw as well. The Frenchmen will enter the tournament coming off a dominant summer that saw them sweep through the two ATP Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati.

They’re could play Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus, this year’s surprise French Open champions, in the quarters.

THE WOMEN

Last year, the quest for the “Bucie Slam” started at the US Open as Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova won the first of three consecutive majors in New York.

The two won’t be able to defend their title this year due to the knee injury that Mattek-Sands suffered at Wimbledon. Safarova, the new world No. 1, is teaming up with her countrywoman Barbora Strycova and they are seeded third.

The top seeds are this year’s Wimbledon champions, Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. The Russians know how to play in New York, having won the title in 2014. Both of those teams are drawn to face very dangerous quarterfinal opponents: Makarova and Vesnina could play Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova, while Safarova and Strycova have Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua in their path. Barty and Dellacqua have been making finals all season on every surface, including their most recent one in New Haven.

Yung-Jan Chan and Martina Hingis, the tournament’s second seeds, lead the way on the bottom half of the draw. In their first year playing together, the two have won multiple titles on every surface. However, they have failed to reach a major final. They’re drawn to possibly play Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke, the eighth seeds, in the quarters.

Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova, the fifth seeds, had a hot streak early in the season, but have cooled off somewhat. If the seeds hold up, they would face No. 4 seeds Sania Mirza and Shuai Peng in the draw.

MIXED

There won’t be a repeat champion in mixed doubles, either, as Laura Siegemund—who won the title last year with Mate Pavic—is sidelined with a knee injury.

Hingis and Murray, the top seeds, will be going for their second major title in a row, after sweeping through Wimbledon this year.

Their final-round opponents at the All England Club, Kontinen and Heather Watson, face Gabriela Dabrowski and Rohan Bopanna, this year’s French Open champions, in the first round—a testament to the depth in the draw.

Australian Open champs Abigail Spears and Juan Sebastian Cabal loom amid the unseeded threats, while the players they beat in the final—Mirza and Ivan Dodig—are also unseeded.