Doubles Take: Ostrava, Cologne and more

Doubles Take looks at the action on both tours as the season starts to wind down.

DOUBLING UP

The WTA Tour has been in wind-down mode with only two events slated for the fall due to the global pandemic. At the first of them, the Ostrava Open in the Czech Republic, Aryna Sabalenka showed her fighting spirt throughout the week as she claimed her second singles title of the year.

However, the Belarussian wasn’t satisfied with that impressive win. There was still the chance to add to her title haul for the week as she and Elise Mertens took on Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani for the doubles crowns. Having been pushed to the brink in their first two matches, Mertens and Sabalenka settled into a groove in the semis, and that form carried over into the championship match.

It was the first title of the season for last year’s US Open winners and Sabalenka had some praise for her partner in the victory speech.

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM…

When Ben Mclachlan won the 2018 Japan Open and 2019 Auckland Open with Jan-Lennard Struff, their opponents in the final were the Grand Slam finalists Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus.

At the second of two events in Cologne, Germany, this past week, Klaasen and Mclachlan decided to team up, and their familiarity with each other’s games paid off. The duo stopped “home” favorites Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies in the final.

For both Klaasen and Mclachlan, it’s their first title of the season and the 17th and sixth of their respective careers.

VERSATILITY IS THEIR STRONG SUIT

Some new pairings just seem to click right away. Take John Peers and Michael Venus, Grand Slam champions who started playing together this year. They won their first title as a team back in February on the outdoor hard courts in Dubai, then added a second triumph on the clay in Hamburg before the recently completed French Open.

Now, they have a third 2020 triumph in the books—under as many different playing conditions. The duo took the indoor title at the European Open in Antwerp, Belgium, beating Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop in the final.

The second seeds were dominant all week as they didn’t drop a set in any of their matches, as they continued to prove their decision to team up this year was the right one.

THIS WEEK

The men have two tournaments this week: one, a staple of the ATP indoor season for decades and the other, a brand-new event. At the 500-level event in Vienna, Austria, US Open champs Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares are the top seeds, followed by the Australian Open winners Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, with both of those pairings already through to the quarterfinals. As is the case with a tournament at this level, there’s a number of dangerous unseeded teams lurking, such as John Peers/Michael Venus and two-time French Open victors Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies, both coming off strong weeks who actually play each other first up.

At the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen sit atop the draw, followed by Max Purcell and Luke Saville. The Aussies, who reached the final of their home Slam at the start of the year, won their opening-round match and are still in search of a first Tour-level title. They’ve dominated at the Challenger level, though, the past two years, winning nine of 12 finals over that time.