Doubles Take: Paris, Zhuhai and Fed Cup

The men wrap up the regular season, while the WTA Elite Trophy champions are crowned. It’s all in this week’s Doubles Take.

RAM TOUGH

One person that’s probably sad to see the 2018 regular season come to a close is Rajeev Ram, because few players have been on a roll like he has the past few weeks.

After the US Open, the American teamed up with Robert Lindstedt to reach the final at the Shenzhen Open in China. A couple of weeks ago, he partnered with compatriot Austin Krajicek to take the title at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Now, after his third final of the fall, he’s the Paris Masters champion with Marcel Granollers.

Playing together for the first time, the duo defeated Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau for the title. Ram, who made the decision this year to focus only on doubles, won his 17th career championship, while his Spanish partner claimed his 16th.

SISTER ACT

It’s been a couple of years since Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok entered the winners’ circle together, but now they’ve made their return there in a major way.

After eking out wins in the round-robin stage, the Ukrainian twins scraped through the final against Shuko Aoyama and Lidziya Marozava to take the biggest title of their careers.

A LOOK AHEAD

This weekend, the US and the Czech Republic will be squaring off in the finals of the Fed Cup. The Czechs will likely send out Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, this year’s French Open and Wimbledon winners, for the doubles tie. Odds are they'll face one half of the team they beat for the Wimbledon title, Nicole Melichar, and Alison Riske.

Next week, the ATP Finals kick off with the eight best teams on the men’s tour set to square off. Stay tuned for a preview of the tournament, Doubles Take-style.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias

This Week on Tennis Channel:

Fed Cup Final (Sat. 11/10 to Sun. 11/11)

Petra Kvitova leads the Czech Republic against defending champions USA. Live coverage begins Saturday at 8:00 am EST.