It was an action-packed week for both tours and Doubles Take is here for the recap, some news and a preview of the days ahead.

DAVIS CUP DRAMA

It wouldn’t be Davis Cup without some surprises, now would it? The biggest one among the quarterfinal ties would have to be Germany’s doubles win over Spain as Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff shocked 2016 French Open champs Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez on their home turf.

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In the France-Italy match-up, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut—one of the best teams in the business—blew past Davis Cup standouts Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini.

Playing against two-time Davis Cup runner-up Belgium, Americans Jack Sock and Ryan Harrison clinched the tie for the U.S. with their doubles win.

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The U.S. next faces Croatia—who defeated Kazakhstan—in the semifinals. Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic beat Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov to spur the nation to victory.

DOUBLE DOUBLES DUTY PAYS OFF

Due to a turn for the worse weather-wise at the Volvo Car Open over the weekend, players were faced with the prospects of winning their semifinal and final matches on the same day.

Undaunted, the unseeded team of Alla Kudryavtseva and Katarina Srebotnik pulled off the feat, capturing their first title of 2018 in their second final. They knocked off the third-seeded pair of Andreja Klepac and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in straight sets in the final.

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For Srebotnik, it’s her 38th title out of 80 finals, while Kudryavtseva won her first doubles title in four years. Kudryavtseva just returned to the tour one year ago after rupturing her Achilles tendon.

WELCOME TO THE WINNERS’ CIRCLE

At the Monterrey Open, the unseeded duo of Naomi Broady and Sara Sorribes Tormo made it look easy all week long as they advanced to the final by winning all of their matches in straight sets. Things got a little tricky, though, as they dropped the opening set in their championship match against another unseeded pair, Desirae Krawczyk and Giuliana Olmos.

In an entertaining match that featured all four players going for their first WTA Tour title, Broady and Sorribes Tormo rallied to win in the match tiebreak.

NEWS & NOTES

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, in the early stages of her comeback, won her first match of 2018 with Andrea Hlavackova.

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In Davis Cup, Leander Paes won his doubles rubber for India to become the all-time leader in doubles victories in the team event with 43.

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A LOOK AHEAD

It’s all clay, all the time for both tours. The men kick off their soft-court stretch with two stops. At the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, four-time tournament champs Bob and Mike Bryan are the top seeds, while 2017 French Open doubles champ Ryan Harrison is partnering with Ben McLachlan to fill the No. 2 spot. Defending champs Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos, the three seeds, have a tough opener against Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald, which attests to how deep the draw is at the event.

The other tournament happening this week is in Marrakech, where Alexander Peya and Nikola Mektic are the top seeds, followed by the veterans Marc Lopez and Nenad Zimonjic.

At the WTA stop in Bogota, Colombia, the top seeds are countrywomen Nao Hibino and Miyu Kato of Japan. Dalila Jakupovic and Irina Khromacheva—who reached two $125,000 finals together last November and won an ITF tournament in February—are the second seeds. Lara Arruabarrena and Alison Riske, the three seeds, are already through to the quarterfinals.

In Lugano, Switzerland, Belgians Kirsten Flipkens and Elise Mertens are the top seeds in a deep draw that also features Alicja Rosolska and Abigail Spears, Raluca Olaru and Anna Smith, and Monique Adamczak and Xenia Kroll as the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4-seeded teams, respectively.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias

Doubles Take: Davis
Cup, Charleston
and Monterrey

Doubles Take: Davis Cup, Charleston and Monterrey

This week on Tennis Channel Plus:

—ATP Houston Outer Courts (4/9-4/13)

Catch all the action from the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship with outer court coverage live on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Monday April 9 at 4 p.m. ET

—ATP Marrakech Final (4/15)

Don’t miss the Grand Prix Hassan II final live on Tennis Channel Plus Sunday April 15 at 9 a.m. ET

—ATP Monte-Carlo (4/15-4/22)

Watch first to last ball of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters live on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Sunday April 15 at 7 a.m. ET