Doubles Take is back with your daily dose of French Open team news.
The return to the doubles court has come to an end for Venus and Serena Williams at Roland Garros.
The two-time French Open champions dropped their third-round match to number-three seeds Andreja Klepac and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. After losing the first set, the Williams sisters took the second in a tiebreak, only to lose the third by a surprising 6-0 scoreline.
Klepac and Martinez Sanchez join such teams as sixth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova and Katarina Siniakova, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic on the men’s side, and Lara Arruabarrena and Katarina Srebotnik in the quarterfinals.
Here’s some of the matches to be on the lookout for today.
Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic (1) vs. Nicole Melichar/Kveta Peschke (13): The lower-seeded team has had a solid spring, with a runner-up finish in Stuttgart and a title in Prague. Babos and Mladenovic have restricted their play to the major tournaments this year, with an Australian Open title and runner-up finish in Madrid to show for that decision. If there’s any sign of nerves from the Frenchwoman, the veteran Peschke will be ready pounce.
Jack Sock/Steve Johnson vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut (6): In the last third-round men’s doubles match, Americans Sock and Johnson face a French team that’s ranked among the best on tour for several years now. Sock and Johnson have experience of their own in major situations, having won the Bronze medal in doubles at the last Olympics.