Doubles Take: Davis Cup, Quebec & more

International team competitions, indoor tournaments and more: It's all in this week's Doubles Take.

CLOSINGS & OPENINGS

The Davis Cup semis took place over the weekend and doubles played a prominent role in both ties—in different fashion.

In the France vs. Spain matchup, Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau clinched the tie with a win over Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers, putting the host nation and defending champs back in the final.

The U.S. took on Croatia in the other semifinal. Down 2-0 after the first day of singles, Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison gave their team new life with a five-set win over Mate Pavic and Ivan Dodig.

That win sparked a comeback by the U.S. that fell just short as Borna Coric sealed Croatia’s place in the final with a five-set win over Frances Tiafoe in singles.

QUEENS OF QUEBEC

At the Coupe Banque Nationale, top seeds Kaitliyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria were eliminated by veterans Lucie Hradecka and Michaella Krajicek in the first round. Their stay was short-lived, too, as they lost their next match against the unseeded pair of Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez.  The Americans kept on winning from there beating the No. 3 seeds in the semis and Darija Jurak and Xenia Knoll, the second seeds, in the final.

It’s the third career doubles crown for Muhammad, and her first in two years, while Sanchez won her second career title.

A LOOK AHEAD

The women are playing throughout Asia this week, with the biggest event on the schedule being the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Japan, where top seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Barbora Strycova are already through to the quarterfinals. The second seeds are Gabriela Dabrowski and Yifan Xu.

In Guangzhou, China, top seeds Christian and Santamaria will look to rebound from their opening-round loss in Quebec. Galina Voskoboeva and the veteran Vera Zvonareva are seeded second in the tournament. The Romanian pairing of Irina-Camelia Begu and Raluca Olaru headline the draw in Seoul.

The men have two events on tap this week. In St. Petersburg, Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor, the top seeds, will go for their third title of the season together. Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos, who had a strong clay-court season,  are the second seeds. Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin will look to delight the home crowd in Metz, as the top seeds. There’s another notable Frenchman in the draw: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who’s making his return to the tour this week after missing most of the season due to injury. He’s partnering with countryman Ugo Humbert.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias