(Photo: WTA Finals Cancún)
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Every year, there is always a game of musical chairs in doubles – both on the ATP and WTA sides.
But this year? Absolute carnage for the women as one season ends, the other is under way in less than two months.
If the digging Open Court has done turns out to all be accurate – and we’re pretty confident in our sources – SIX of the eight teams that qualified for this year’s WTA Finals in Cancún are done, or all but done.
And the new combinations we’re hearing may get together will definitely add some spice to a 2024 season that is sneaking up on us faster than we realize. Too soon to know if they’ll all make it to the starting line. But as of now, per my sources, these are the plans.
There are always changes at the end of every season. But we’re trying to remember if there were ever THIS many, at the very top of the women’s game.
Czechs have Czeched out
The Czech pair of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, who’ve been together – and winning together – since they were juniors? They are no more. Siniakova’s decision, per reports.
The two definitely looked out sorts in Cancún, and in Sevilla, as well.
Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva, who won the WTA Tour Finals after being the last team to qualify? Done. Zvonareva is all but retired, and already working on Dubai, which is not to say she might still play more tournaments.
Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs? No more.
Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens? Finito.
Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama? All but done, as Shibahara said in Cancún that she would be focusing on singles in 2024. She might play a few big events – but that’s about it.
Even Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, who have played far too much tennis the last few years between singles and doubles and have been the best team in the world for much of that time, are looking to significantly scale it back in 2024.
Also: “Taylah” is no more
On the Canadian content side, the blockbuster is that the entertaining and popular team of Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend has … also gone for the high jump.
The two might well have been in Cancun with the rest – except Townsend chose to prioritize he singles after the US Open and didn’t go to Asia.
Had Siegemund and Zvonareva not won their final regular-season match in the Nanchang final, “Taylah” would have been in Cancún instead of them. And the German-Russian pair ended up winning the whole thing.
On such fine margins, do great things happen.
The survivors: Dabrowski-Routliffe and Perez-Melichar
Of all those teams, the only two that look to still be thriving as the 2024 season begins are Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez, who reached the finals in Cancún.
And, of course the newbies – the Cana-Kiwi combination of Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, who only teamed up in Montreal in August and got all the way to the semifinals in Mexico.
It’s all to play for, for that pair, whose dynamic worked out better than either of them might have imagined.
All of this is going to give women’s doubles a whole new look.
New look for 2024
Now, the second part of the equation.
Open Court did a TON of journalisming today. And we’re nearly 100% sure that these new pairings will be gracing a doubles court near you in 2024.
They are surprising teams, when you think about it. This 2024 season is an Olympic season, when players vie for medals but have to play with a countrywoman.
And none of these new duos reflect that.
Takeaway: some of these are just … wow.
Digest, and discuss!
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I was also surprised that the Czech pair breaks up in Olympic year. Would Krejcikova play in Zhuhai right before the final be the cause or it’s something deeper and longer?
I doubt that particular thing was the cause of anything. Every tennis player understands how much $$$ was available in Zhuhai and had Siniakova qualified for it, I’m sure she’d also have been there.
These two have played together since they were juniors – literally half their lives. They don’t get along particularly well, and both are strong singles players whose focus has always been there. So it was probably just time.
They might well play the Olympics together. I know that fans are already focused on the Olympics, but it’s nearly a year away and few players are that focused on it at this stage.
Plus, they’ve already won Olympic gold. Not like that’s a bucket-list item any more.
It was actually more susprising that Shibahara and Aoyama would end it in an Olympic year. The Tokyo Games were why they got together in the first place. But Shibahara, 25, has decided she’ll try to get her singles career going in 2024, and she’s picked this year – after she made some great money in 2023 and can afford to drop down to play smaller events to chase it. Given their rankings they could easily also play the Olympics together.
In short – the Olympics isn’t really a factor in the decision-making.
Your “They don’t get along particularly well” seems a bit flippant. Yes, their tennis since the summer wasn’t the best, but they both weren’t 100% either. Your statement implies there were personal reasons, not tennis reasons. They have the best doubles record of any team in the last five-plus years, plus their juniors success. I can’t imagine them splitting if they had won another slam this year. Krejcikova even said she was surprised when Siniakova told her during the Asian swing. I’m not buying the “they don’t get along particularly well” argument. I watched them at both Cancun and Billie Jean Cup–after the split was known–and I felt they both wanted wins in every match, especially BJC. And weren’t playing bad, mostly. I understand they weren’t best friends, but their affinity/lack of affinity for one another never impeded their tennis. They’ve had a target on their backs for so long I think some of the other teams just caught up. This is a more reasonable hypothesis. Unless you know something you’re not saying here, the “not getting along” argument just doesn’t ring true. Considering they won the AO and Indian Wells, plus San Diego, it wasn’t a bad season–better than most of the other teams. Sorry, but something feels awry. Or maybe a better choice of words here.
It wasn’t flippant as much as it was … diplomatic.
But you’ve already decided that you hypothesize or “can believe”, and what you think.
So there’s not much point in telling you what I … know.
As with many fans you also overestimate the value players focused on and committed to singles put on doubles. They have nothing left to prove in the latter discipline; winning another major title, or not winning one, is just not the catalyst you seem to think it is.
(As well, just like in life, the end of a long-term relationship rarely is this thing OR that thing to the exclusion of everything else. Life isn’t that linear)
This is a better answer, so thank you. Believe me, though, I had no presumptions of anything with my earlier comments. I know I’m just a fan, subject to what I read, see, etc., looking for answers.
I know singles is more important to both players, and there’s nothing else to prove in doubles (yet they’ve both taken on new partners, as you mentioned). And of course the end of a long-term relationship is fraught.
That said, I haven’t already decided anything. I know I’m speculating.
My point is this: I want you to tell me what you know; the devil is in the details; don’t be diplomatic! I don’t want the press-release version. No reader does.
In the who, what, when, where and why formula, the why is the most important. And I could argue the same thing for the other pairings. Why not an article (more in-depth) on each pairing?
Thanks for your reply.
Great info, thanks!
I’m glad Gabi and Erin are staying together.
Nice reporting! Mertens and Hsieh Su-wei won Wimbledon in 2021 so that pairing doesn’t surprise me. I was rooting for Zvonareva and Siegemund to stay together since they also won the U.S. Open in 2020. But the Siegemund Krejcikova combo will be really interesting!
Maybe it doesn’t surprise you. But they went their separate ways a few years ago and Hsieh is getting up there – and she disappeared at the end of the season. No way to know if she was coming back.
Zvonareva is basically retiring. She is already working in Dubai. Might play a few events (with that ranking, she can get in all year if she wants, anywhere).
Siegemund/Krejcikova is going to be a … clash of personalities. Hopefully a dramatic one 🙂