Doubles Take: The Asia Swing rolls on

Both tours are making their way through Asia: Doubles Take is here with your weekly look.

WIRE-TO-WIRE DOMINANCE

All season long, Elise Mertens and Demi Schuurs have been making their presence felt at every tournament they enter. The duo picked up its fourth title of the season in Wuhan behind shots like this:

With their latest triumph, they’ve also qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore. The team they beat in the Wuhan final, Andrea Hlavackova and Barbora Strycova, will be there, too.

THE BREAKTHROUGH YEAR CONTINUES

Entering the Shenzhen Open as the top seeds, Ben McLachlan and Joe Salisbury lived up to their billing, winning the title in straight sets over the veterans Robert Lindstedt and Rajeev Ram.

It’s the second career title for McLachlan, an Australian Open doubles semifinalist this year, and Salisbury’s first.

WINNING CURES EVERYTHING

Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic, Croatia’s top doubles players, had both been slumping of late with different partners, and when they took the court together for the Davis Cup semifinals, their bad runs converged as they dropped a heartbreaker to the U.S. in the doubles rubber.

Returning to tour life together, they put their recent troubles behind them to take the title in Chengdu.It's their second title together after winning in Hamburg last year.

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

At the Tashkent Open, youth triumphed over experience as Olga Danilovic and Tamara Zidansek beat Raluca Olaru and Irina-Camelia Begu for the title.

Both members of the championship pair won their first doubles title. For Danilovic, the year of firsts continues as she also captured her maiden singles title in 2018 in Moscow.

THISWEEK

The men and women are sharing the stage at the China Open in Beijing this week. The women’s draw is 28 teams deep with the top four teams having received byes. Top seeds and Australian Open champs Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic are already through to the quarterfinals. On the men’s side, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, Aussie Open champs, too, are the top seeds, followed by Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who will be looking to build upon their US Open runner-up finish.

At the men’s event in Tokyo, the up-and-down season continues for Henri Kontinen and John Peers: The top seeds are already out, having dropped their opener to Fabrice Martin and John Peers. Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, the second seeds, are already through to the quarters as they try to win their fourth title of the year.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias