Doubles Only Tennis Podcast

2025 Australian Open Doubles Preview & Picks

• Will Boucek • Episode 214

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The 2025 Australian Open is underway and this episode previews new teams and picks for the first major of the year.

I recorded this from Melbourne with Tennis Tribe beat writer, Hanlon Walsh. We review the ATP then WTA draws discussing new partnerships and making 3 picks each for the 2025 AO Champions.

I'll have more conversations with players and coaches from Melbourne over the next several weeks.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Australian Open 2025 Doubles Preview

Speaker 1

Hey everyone, welcome to the show. This is our very first show of 2025 and it's a great way to kick it off here with Hanlon Walsh for the Australian Open 2025 preview. Hanlon, welcome back. It's been a while.

Speaker 2

It's good to be back Pumped to kick off Grand Slam Doubles in 2025. How are things down under 2025? How are things down under?

Speaker 1

Good yeah. So I just got here yesterday and I wanted to, so I had like 20, 22 hours of travel time, actually flew from DFW to Fiji and then to Melbourne, so I was pretty exhausted. But one of the listeners of the show shout out to Shireen, actually reached out and I went to this place called Kuyong Tennis or Lawn and Tennis Club and they used to host the Australian Open back in the 70s and 80s and I got to have dinner there with her and some of her teammates and saw the grass courts. They have red clay courts, they have hard courts. It was really cool, a really cool experience to see that.

Speaker 1

And then they've got all these like Australian Open trophies with Paul McNamee and Ash Barty and all these Australian legends. So it's pretty neat to see kind of a little little part of tennis history, uh, and then actually was able to sleep through most of the night, um, so I've got day one, uh, at least for me today, um, and I'll be headed to the courts, um, here in the next hour or so. So, um, all good so far what was the doubles talent?

Speaker 2

uh, looking like at the local club there. Did you get to scout any matches or give any tips?

Speaker 1

it's funny. Um, yeah, so we talked about strategy and they've got these leagues. And, uh, their team was in the b league last season but they won the b league, so they move up to the a league. Um, and last time they had won the b league they said they, they move up to the A League. And last time they had won the B League, they said they moved up to A League and then finished bottom of A League. So they immediately moved back down to the B League. So their goal is to like, stay in the A League right now.

Speaker 1

And one thing I asked them was do y'all ever use any serve formations? And they said no. And I said does anybody at the club like, if I came here on a busy Saturday, would I see anyone using anything other than regular formation? And they said no, definitely not. So one of the things I convinced them to do is this coming up season, on all their first serves, start using either I or Australian formation to give the returner a different look. And they promised they were going to do that between now and next year. So hopefully I come back to Melbourne next year and that are still in the A-League. But it's a huge thing I would encourage anybody listening. You know almost everybody is using regular formation at the club level, so give the returner a different look, using I or Australian, which we've got a ton of content on, uh, on the YouTube channel and website and, uh, different areas like that.

Speaker 1

So, um, yeah, it was a lot of fun, but let's, uh, let's, go ahead and dive into the draw here. Um, I want to start with the men's draw. Um, so, for people listening, today's Tuesday, the 13th, um, I think I'll. I'll try to get this out this afternoon, or it's Tuesday for me, I think it's Monday for you. Hanlon um, yeah, monday night, uh, so I'll try to get this out Tuesday night, maybe it'll be Wednesday. Um, doubles has not started. It starts a little bit later today. There's only five matches today, um, I think, because there was a bit of a rain delay on day one here in Melbourne. So let's go through the men's draw first and then we'll take a look at the women's draw after that.

Speaker 1

For people listening, if you want to watch the doubles in the States, you can watch it on ESPN Plus or ESPN3. You might have to sign up for a subscription, but you can sign up for one month and then cancel. So I would highly encourage you to watch the doubles, especially the women's doubles. It's very representative of club level doubles so you can learn a lot about what you can implement into your own game because they play a lot more kind of one up, one back. It's not quite as fast ppaced as the men's, so I definitely encourage you all to watch. So this year the ATP draw Arevalo and Pavic are the one seed, a team from last year. We have a lot of new teams on the men's side, which is not super uncommon. Talk to us a little bit about the draw. I know you just wrote your preview, which we'll link to in the show notes, but talk to us a little bit about the draw, some of the new teams to look out for and what we can expect here at the Australian Open for the ATP side.

Australian Open Men's Doubles Analysis

Speaker 2

Yeah, like you said, this of year is for doubles is particularly, you know, exciting, I think, depending on which way you look at it, if you follow the tour closely, because there's always new partnerships. It's, uh, a bit like dating at the end of each season. Every, you know so many teams break up and grass is always greener on the other side, so everyone's kind of on the partner hunt and then by the time people make it to australia there's a whole set of new teams. It's, I think, a little bit of touch and go during the summer Aussie swing to see like which of the new teams are going to stick and who's going to be the leader of the pack.

Speaker 2

But just you know, looking at the top number one seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Matej Pavic. They were actually a new team that started at the beginning of last season and they were one of the teams that obviously stuck and they finished the year number one and just had a huge kind of breakout season as a team together. And the very first matchup in the draw is intriguing to me because they have drawn the aussie wild card team of rinky hitchikata and jason kubler who won open doubles title. What was it two years ago that they won?

Speaker 1

as well. Yeah, yeah, two or three years ago they won as wild cards, and two or three years ago they they won as wild cards and they're wild cards again this year um drawing the the top seeds, obviously yeah.

Speaker 2

So that matchup um at the top of the draw sticks out to me for sure, and then as you scroll down, um again on the top section. One of the new teams that I think is probably the highest profile team in the men's game is Joe Salisbury and Neil Skupsky, the fellow Brit team. They have been Davis Cup and Olympic teammates together on and off over the years so it really only felt like a matter of time before they joined forces as a legit doubles partnership. They're around the same age. They both went through the US college system. Joe played at University of Memphis, neil Skupski played at LSU and they have said they've had a lot of success with different partners.

Speaker 2

Joe Salisbury just got out of a six-year partnership with Rajiv Ram and really this decade they've been they were probably one of the most solid, consistent teams. They won four majors together in advance to the ATP finals for five or six years in a row. And Neil Skupski has had a lot of great partnerships too over the last few years, most notably with Wesley Kuloff, who just retired last year. But they had a lot of success in 22 and 23. So definitely, looking at that team as one of the top new teams that I would expect to make a dent on tour this year. Anyone else catch your eye in the top quarter of the draw?

Speaker 1

Let's see. I feel like you have Gonzalez and Molteni, who have played together for a while. They had a really good stretch a year or two ago on hard courts. Curios and Kokonacus are up there yeah. All Aussie matchup. It looks like yeah.

Speaker 2

They play former Aussie open champions too.

Speaker 1

Yeah, former champions, I think with. I watched curious lose a singles match last night in straight sets which wasn't a huge shocker to me just since he's been out for so long, and I honestly I think he'll use that to really focus on doubles. I could see him putting a lot of effort into the doubles draw assuming he's physically okay at least for doubles and I could see them making a run just because of that.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I definitely think so, Kokunaka seems to be in good form too. He had a good week in Adelaide leading up to the AO.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so that's definitely one of the teams to look out for. As we scroll down, you've got the three seeds Bolelli and Vavasori, who have had a really good start to last year actually a lot of points to defend. Really good start to last year actually A lot of points to defend. They made the finals last year here in Melbourne. A new team, pavlosek and Roger, will be interesting to see. Roger's obviously got a lot of experience. He's won majors before, so that'll be a good team to watch. Bopana is the 14 seed playing with Barrientos. He's the defending champion with Matt Ebden. They split after last year. A lot of new teams.

Speaker 1

Also a lot of teams with the same flag. I'm seeing next to their name. Right, you've got Cash and Glasspool, who have had a good start to the year, both British teams or both British players. Kravitz and Poots, who have to be one of the favorites and had a really good season last year making the US Open final. Rajiv Ram and Austin Krychek are playing together. So a lot of it almost feels like you know, gearing up for the Olympics or something like that, even though the Olympics was last year.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's a good point. I heard Dan Kiernan actually mentioned that on his Australian Open preview on Controllables the other day. They were talking about the doubles field and mentioned some national teams like Skupski and Salisbury and Ram and krycek and a few others who are finally, you know, finally teaming up officially. Um, one thing about roger to you mentioned his name. He's, you know, definitely he and pavlosek are definitely an unseated sleeper team.

Speaker 2

Um, roger, if he went, if he happened to win the australian open, he would get the career grand slam because he's won three different majors and this is the only one that has eluded him. He's 43 years old, he's been around for a while and not to say it couldn't happen. Last year we saw Bopana who was then 43, become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam doubles title in ATP history, I think in open-air history. So you see a lot of players in their late 30s and early to mid 40s who are still having a lot of success on the doubles court, like Roger, like Vopana, like Ivan Dodik, rajiv Ram. So the doubles game right now really lends itself to the more experienced players who have been on tour for a while. It seems like yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1

And then, as we scroll down to the bottom of the draw, I mean I think the best matchup, first round matchup, has got to be Ram and Krychek against Ebden and Vligan. Yeah, seasons last year, at least on the ATP tour. Of course, they won the silver medal in Paris, losing to Ebden and John Piers in the finals in a third set tiebreaker. That was a very tightly contested match. So that'll be one that I'm definitely going to be attending for sure in the first round.

Speaker 1

And then, of course, at the bottom of the draw, number two seeds Grenoers and Zavaios still looking for that major title together. You know, I personally I mentioned this last year like I would love to see them do it, just because I see them work so hard for it. I got to talk to them in Miami last year. They both seem like really great guys and you know, and very businesslike in their approach. They play doubles the right way. Yeah, I think it would just mean nobody's worked harder for this than them and they've stuck together for so long. I would really love to see them make a run and win a Grand Slam at some point this year make a run and win a grand slam at some point.

Speaker 2

Uh, this year, yeah, they've been. Uh, you're right, they were number one at one point last year in the season. They um have, you know, won a lot of masters 1000 titles and, I think, made it to the semifinals, or better of all four majors, and I remember writing this last year. But, um, granola, granola is 0-5 and Grand Slam, doubles, finals, and then Zabaios, together with Granoliers, they're 0-3 as a pair. So they've made it to the final stages so many times in their career, both in their late 30s, maybe hitting 40 soon. So it'd be great to see them come through and grab a slam before they call it quits.

Speaker 1

Yeah, absolutely so. Who do you feel like is your favorite? We've talked about some dark horses. I think another dark horse we haven't mentioned Bombrey and Olivetti. They've played together for a bit and I got to watch them in New York last year and they're a very strong team that's continuing to improve last year, and they're a very strong team that's continuing to improve. Um, who do you feel like? Or maybe, if you have to pick like one to three favorites, uh, who do you feel like comes out of this men's draw as the ao champion?

Speaker 2

oh, that's a good question. I'm gonna go um, mostly chalk here. I think you can't go against cello and povich, number one. They've kind of been the most solid team the last year, so I like them. I like the three seeds, bilelli and Vavasori, like you said, they made the finals here last year. They also won one of the lead-up tournaments recently, so they'll be coming in with some solid momentum. And who is number three? Honestly, I like um. I like your take on kyrgios and kokanakis. I think with especially that you know they could be, they're defending champions. I wouldn't call them necessarily dark horse, but they're also not seated and they don't play a ton of doubles regularly. But I think with kyrgios out of singles, like you said, that could get them, give them a lot of extra motivation to just focus on doubles and shake up the draw. So I'm going to go with them as my number three and a wildcard pick.

Speaker 1

Yeah, Defending champions from two years ago, I think is what you mean.

Speaker 2

but yeah, so okay, so I'll pick three.

Speaker 1

So if Thompson could also be a another wildcard team to look out for, so so I think my number one team, my number one pick, is going to be kravitz and poots. Um, they made the us open final. Uh, they made the final in adelaide. Uh, losing to bull le and vavasori 11-9 in the third. Um. I'm looking at that match now and it looks like the total point count was dead, even 77 a piece. So they were you know dead.

Speaker 1

It was a coin flip, that match. Um, I feel like they're good on hard courts, uh, obviously. So I, yeah, they're my top pick, I would say to win. Uh, if I have to pick a second and third team number two, second and third team number two, this is kind of a hard pick, but I'm gonna go with Granolers and Zabaios because I want to see them win a major um. Yeah, I mean, it's also a smart pick they made. Um, yeah, I think you're right, the semifinals are better at all four. Last year it might have been quarterfinals in New York, because I watched that match. They lost against the eventual champions Purcell and Thompson. So I'll go with them. And then, third, I'm going to go with a team we haven't talked about that's a new partnership, but they're playing well so far and that is Mektic and Michael Venus. Oh, that's a good one, so yeah. So there, I didn't realize.

Speaker 1

I saw Michael Venus was training um with Dan kiernan at his Academy in Spain this off season and it looks like they are working together. And, dan, you've seen what Dan has been able to contribute to the team of Gabby Dabrowski and Aaron Routliff. He's worked with some players on the men's side in the past and I feel like he's you know, we've had him on the podcast a few times, I talk with him every now and then. I think he's just a fantastic doubles coach. He really starts from the ground up and starts with kind of first principles doubles, first principle doubles. So I think that, yeah, I think they'll make a run and I think they'll be consistently one of the better teams this year. Venus actually had some really good results last year with Neil Skubski as well, so I was honestly a little bit surprised they didn't play together this year. But I think that Venus and Mektic are going to make a run. So that would be my third pick for the men's side.

Speaker 1

So any final thoughts on the ATP, draw, new partnerships, anything else before we move on to the WTA side.

Speaker 2

Two quick things. I agree, yeah, mektic and Venus. I think they may be the best new team of 2025 that will be sustainably good throughout the year. And then also, I want to give a shout out to the top American team of Nate Lammons and Jackson Withrow. They're the seven seeds. They're both right in the top 20. I don't know that they'll win it. I they do have look to have a pretty good draw and I could see them, you know, making the quarters or semis for sure. Um, they've been building a lot the last couple seasons. Just made the semis of the us open. Love the hard courts. The conditions should suit them well. They're both texas guys, so I think, uh, I think they could certainly make a deep run for sure yeah, yeah, that's a good point.

Speaker 1

I talked to nate he was on the podcast a couple like a month or two ago, um and the. It did seem like the semi-finals run at the us open was kind of a breakthrough for them. Uh, they had made um the quarters several times and just kind of couldn't get over that hump, and he talked about that on the episode. Uh, how they kind of couldn't get over that hump and he talked about that on the episode, how they kind of approached it differently. So I know they've been working hard this offseason and yeah, they could absolutely make another run here in Melbourne. So let's take a look at the women's draw. We've got a lot of new teams on the women's side this year as well. Some teams have stuck together but yeah, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see one of these new partnerships make a deep run and potentially win it.

WTA Doubles Preview and Analysis

Speaker 1

I was reading the preview. I haven't finished it yet, but I was reading the preview from our friend on Twitter, tennis Pig. From our friend on Twitter, tennis Pig, he wrote a WTA preview. I haven't seen his ATP preview yet, but he was saying that generally, the champions in recent history have been one of the top two seeds on the women's side, unlike the men's side where we've had unseeded Australian teams, win it and even a wildcard team. So you're going to have to look at some of the top teams as far as champions go, but you can certainly pick out some kind of unseated teams to make a run as well. So let's start with some of the new partnerships. Who are some of the kind of highest profile new partnerships here on the WTA side?

Speaker 2

The one that jumps out to me, and most tennis fans I would imagine, is Shea and Ostapenko. They both are unique personalities. You know, ostapenko is fiery and aggressive and Shea is, you know, one of the quirkiest, most most entertaining, but also like cunning players on the court. Um, so they both have, you know, big cult followings and the fact that they, you know, have teamed up together is exciting and it's, I mean, they're both individually so popular. Um them on as a doubles team is is going to be fun to watch, um ostapenko isn't. It doesn't seem to be in great form. They lost their opening match to Pagula and Kruger last week.

Speaker 2

However, you know, shea is a defending champion here last year with Elise Mertens and, you know, hopefully the conditions will suit them well. So I still think, you know the X of the nose, that team should be really good. Just given Ostapenko's baseline game with shea's net game and just aggression and doubles court sense, that's the one that really catches my eye. Um also really interested to see what elise mertens and ellen perez do. Ellen is a, you know, friend of the show. Um aussie lefty, super athletic, explosive. Elise is very consistent, has a big baseline game, one of the best lobs and the women's game, and I'm from the baseline, so I could see the two of them being a really solid pairing as well.

Speaker 1

Yeah, there's, um uh, a couple other teams, so Nicole Malacor Martinez is playing with Tameya Babos, who has a few Grand Slam titles to her name. It looks like Demi Shores.

Speaker 2

She's also on the.

Speaker 1

AO twice. It looks like Demi Shores and Aja Muhammad. They played together a bit last year, I believe, but it sounds like they're going to be playing sticking together for the rest of this season. Hadaj Maya and Lars Siegmund both have had a lot of good doubles results, especially Siegmund. They're the 15 seeds. I'm just kind of scrolling through the draw here the 15 seeds.

Speaker 2

I'm just kind of scrolling through the draw here. Um, I've been told in a shibahara and kudamatova is another team to look out for yeah, absolutely yeah, that could be a really strong team.

Speaker 1

Um, I'm interested to see how they kind of match up with each other, because inna has had a lot of success with shuko ayama, a fellow Japanese player who is a very much different game style than Veronica Kudermitova. Shuko is probably close to a foot, maybe 10 inches shorter than Kudermitova and much more of a net player, whereas Kudermitova is obviously being a good singles player, has a power baseline game, so that'll be interesting to see how they pair up. Chan and Ludmilla Kicinoc are the five seeds. It sounds like they'll be playing together this year. Matic Sands is with Buzkova. Are we missing any here?

Speaker 2

Peyton Stearns and Luis stefani should be an interesting team, probably one of the more athletic doubles teams in the field. They're both, uh, very agile, both you know former college athletes in the us and I think uh will be one. Yeah, between stefani's net game and stearns powerful, you know big forehand and big ground strokes. That's usually the winning formula for a successful WTA doubles team is to have the strong net player with the strong baseliner. So they're not seeded. But I think they could certainly make a deep run as long as Peyton's singles tournament doesn't collide with their doubles focus. But I'm excited to see how that team does together.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see because Peyton has played uh pretty, from what I remember, like a pretty bowl-ish double schedule, especially for a singles player, um, but she's played with, you know, different partners, kind of off and on. I'm interested to see uh if she and Stefani stick it out through this year.

Speaker 2

Yeah, who did we see? I remember we watched Peyton play against Gabby and Aaron in Toronto last summer. I'm blanking on who her partner was. Do you remember they had a good lead on them.

Speaker 1

She's played with Lynette, so it might have been her.

Speaker 2

Oh, that's who it was. Yeah.

Speaker 1

Yeah, but yeah, I would imagine Stefani would want a partner who's like going to stay with her throughout the year, and Stearns just doesn't come to mind as somebody who's done that in the past. But anyways, we'll see how that goes. And then Desiree Kravchik, who has obviously been one of the top doubles players the last five years or so. She's playing with Danielle Collins. They've played together a handful of times and had some success. It doesn't seem like Danielle's in the highest of form right now, but we know that when she catches fire she can be be good as well. As far as first-round matchups, that is a good transition because they play Dabrowski and Ratliff in the first round. That's definitely one that I want to watch and will for sure try to attend. The other one that I have an eye on is actually the team you mentioned at the top Shea and Ostapenko. They're going to be such an interesting team because they have such different game styles. I can't think of a player who hits the ball harder and a player who hits the ball softer than these two.

Speaker 1

I'm also really curious to see what their go ahead. Oh, I was gonna just gonna say, like, if you're playing against them, like talk about not being able to find a rhythm right like I mean, you're just gonna like, yeah, be hitting balls that are 30 miles an hour and hitting balls that are 110 miles an hour, um, it's just gonna be a really interesting matchup. But they play um olivia nichols and ter Teresa Mihailikova, who have had a strong partnership the last 12 months or so. I think they made the quarters or so in New York, so that's a very intriguing first round matchup as well. I'm actually hoping to chat with Olivia a little bit later this week and have her on the podcast, but those are the two first round matchups that stand out to me.

Speaker 2

Any other ones that I'm missing here. Those are definitely the top two. And just back to Shea and Ostapenko, I'm almost more excited just to see what their dynamic is in between points. And after a winner, after an error, we know Shay has some Epic celebrations. And then Austin Pankow does not hide her emotions when she is aggravated with her partner. At least she didn't with with Kitchenock the past couple of years. So it was pretty obvious to see that that partnership might be on the downswing of the WTA finals when they were not not playing their best. And Austin Pankow, you know, is not one to hide her frustrations with her doubles partner. So that'll be fun to watch. And yeah, I think you're right about Teresa and Olivia. I think that could be a potential upset alert over Shea and Ostapenko if they don't have a great day.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it's interesting, since Ostapenko and Kachinok won the US Open and then split immediately after, since they had played together for multiple seasons. Yeah, I think the other first-round matchup that is interesting that I just missed here. Oh, here it is. So a team we talked about Babos and Melicar Martinez play, haley Baptiste and Katie McNally, who we hope can stay healthy this year. Katie's one of the best doubles players in the world individually. She's won I think it was two or three seasons ago she won like four or five titles with five different partners or something. And, um, yeah, she's a fantastic doubles player with a very high doubles iq, somebody you can learn a lot from uh, watching, um, if you're a club player as well she's also yeah, she's a two-time also a two-time us open finalist with both with um coco golf and taylor townsend back-to-back years a couple years ago.

Speaker 2

So, yeah, I agree that's probably the third match. I would circle first round and then one interesting potential second round match that caught catches my eye if both of them win their opening matches. The fourth seeds sarah ronnie and jasmineolini, who were the WTA doubles team of the year last year. They won the Olympic gold together. I think they won Roland Garros also, and then, oh, they made the final.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and then yeah they lost to Coco and Billie Jean King Cup Sydney Akava. Oh, that's right. And they made the finals. I think they made the finals in Wimbledon as well, or no? Paolini made the finals of both in singles.

Speaker 2

I'm sorry, oh, yeah, yeah they had a big year and if they win their opener they could play the unseeded team of Mira Andreeva and Diana Schneider, who I think has probably one of the biggest upsides of any team in the draw. So I'm definitely circling that for a potential second round matchup.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, I think that was the finals of the Olympics, that matchup.

Speaker 2

Oh, you're right. Yeah, rematch of the gold medal match yeah.

Speaker 1

So, yeah, that's a fantastic second round matchup. So let's take a look at going like moving forward in the draw. Who do you like? Let's go with uh, three teams again. Which, which three teams do you like? Uh, based on their draw, based on their form, um, based on history at the australian open to, to come away with the, with the trophy here I'm gonna go with definitely the top seeds Katarina Saniakova, taylor Townsend.

Speaker 2

We haven't talked about them much yet, but um Saniakova has been such a dominant force in the women's doubles game. The last several years she I think she's won nine total majors, um, and seven made with two or three different partners. Obviously Kujikova'm sure. She won one with Coco Gauff. She won another one with Taylor Townsend as well, I think Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back. So that team is definitely at the top of the list.

Speaker 2

And I'm also going to go with Mira Andreeva and Diana Schneider. They're unseated but I like their odds to break through the draw. And then my last team. I am going to go with elise mertens and ellen perez. At least won the title here last year, was chased away. Ellen will have the you know home aussie crowd advantage. I believe she's also being coached or consulted by renee stubs right now, who's, you know, an aussie doubles legend and popular commentator and really knows the game well. I think their lefty-righty dynamic is going to be really solid too. They won't benefit from any lead-up momentum since they both play different warm-up tournaments, but I do think that they'll be a really strong team together and could go deep here and win the title.

Speaker 1

Okay, so I'm going to go. I have to go with the top seeds as well, because I feel like if you're you know, if you get to choose three teams and suny akava is not one of those three teams, then you're just you're doing something wrong yeah, you're kind of lying to yourself.

Speaker 1

Um, another boring one is the two seeds uh, dobrowski and ratliff. Um, yeah, I mean they've been the most consistent team as a team, like together. Um, seneyakova has been the best player, but the best team in majors the last, uh, you know, year and a half has been them.

Speaker 2

Um, they, I think I would agree with that the means of every major.

Speaker 1

Or maybe they lost in the quarters of the US Open, but it was like a tight three-set match. But they won the US Open two years ago. They won the WTA finals and then I'm not sure if people saw, we'll link to it in the show notes but Gabby talked about being diagnosed with breast cancer back in April of last year as well and she was like keeping it close and only keeping it with her team and it seems like she just went through a lot last year and still played at a really high level and it sounds like she's doing better. The breast cancer is gone and, yeah, I just can't imagine going through that. So part of me is also rooting for them for that reason as well.

Speaker 1

And then, like I talked about, I feel like Dan is just a very, very good coach. He's able to get his players and his team kind of playing well and in the right mindset for these majors. They do have a tough first round, though, again against Desiree Kravchik and Daniel Collins. So that's my second team. And third this one might surprise you a bit Laura Siegman and Beatriz Haddad-Maya. Haddad-maya made the finals here, I think two years ago with Danilina and lost or maybe it was three years ago lost to the Czechs in the finals. So she has some history of playing well here in doubles and I just still think Siegmund you know if she wants to focus on doubles at some point is going to be a top 10, maybe probably top five doubles player.

Watch Doubles at Australian Open

Speaker 1

I think she has one of the highest doubles IQs. She's one of the best net players. She may not be like the fastest player on the court but I think her anticipation and her movement at the net and her ability to kind of create chaos on the other side of the net with that movement is really as good as anybody. So those are my three picks, I would say, to win it this year. Any final thoughts? We don't have a mixed draw, unfortunately, yet. I think that comes out later today. Any final thoughts on this draw or kind of overall what to expect?

Speaker 2

Yeah, like your second and third picks. I think the reason I didn't pick either of those teams is because they're in the same bottom section of the draw and Gabby and Aaron have probably the most brutal draw of any of the top teams with. You know, krawczyk and Collins, first round and then a potential round of 16 match against Siegman and Haddad Maya. But I do you know, do agree with you there that the winner of that section will certainly be a top title contender.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I didn't even think about the fact that they would play each other in the round to 16, but I'm going to stick with my picks anyways. I feel like the winner of that is going to have gotten through potentially their most difficult match of the tournament, or at least through potentially their most difficult match of the tournament, or at least their um, one of their most difficult matches of the tournament. Um, so anyways, all right, well, we will wrap it up there. Um, for everybody listening. Uh, thank you for listening. Definitely watch the doubles as much as you can. Uh, again, in the us, you can watch it on espn3 or espn plus.

Speaker 1

Um, if you're in australia, I just learned about this app called stan where you can watch it on ESPN3 or ESPN+. If you're in Australia, I just learned about this app called Stan where you can sign up for a monthly subscription and watch it there. In Europe I'm sure y'all have some kind of premium subscription. Just sign up for these for a month, watch the doubles and then cancel at the end of australian open. I promise you it is worth it. Hanlon, thanks again for joining us, and hopefully we can do it again for wimbledon or rolling garrett's, the, the next major here in several months hope so enjoy down under.