Australian Open 2016: Doubles Preview

Women’s Doubles: Can Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza win their third consecutive slam?

b) No. 2 seeds Yung-Jan Chan and Hao-Ching Chan: Team #Chansis from Chinese Taipei lost in the first round of Brisbane and in the semis of Sydney to start the year, but they were able to win titles in Pattaya City, Tokyo (Japan Open, the International event) and the Premier 5 event in Cincinnati last year. In that Cincinnati run last August, the feisty Chan sisters beat Hingis and Mirza along the way which is the last time #SanTina lost a match. The No. 2 seeds have always played the top seeds tough and will be the strongest challengers for the crown against the World No.1s

a) Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic are projected to meet #SanTina in the semis. The Frenchwomen broke up with their regular partners (Katarina Srebotnik and Timea Babos respectively) at the end of 2015 to unite for a bid at the Rio Olympics. The No. 3 seeds here, they seem to be clicking as they had #SanTina on the ropes in the Sydney final before losing in the match tie-break.

b) The bottom half is a lot more open with the Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka (No. 7 seeds and winners of the 2011 French Open and 2013 US Open) projected to meet the Chan sisters in an intriguing quarterfinal.

The Favorites:

a) No. 1 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau: The Dutch-Romanian pair had a great 2015 with titles at Rotterdam, Wimbledon and the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

c) No.3 seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan: They didn’t win a slam last year, and they lost the world No. 1 ranking, but they did win 6 titles and reached the French Open final. Surely the 16-time slam champs can rebound in Melbourne where they won 6 times.

d) No. 4 seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea: The Indo-Romanian pair teamed up last April and won titles in Madrid and Stuttgart. They reached the semis of Wimbledon as well as the quarters of the US Open last season. Continuing that good form, they finished the year by reaching the finals of the ATP World Tour Finals in London. The versatile duo is fresh from a runner-up finish in Sydney a few days ago. They should be ready to go.

a) Indian doubles specialists have new partnerships. Paes is teaming up with Jeremy Chardy; the pair recently lost their Sydney-opener. But Paes is so adept at making new partnerships click. Bhupathi and Gilles Muller, coming off a 1st round loss at the Chennai Open, could meet the Bryan brothers in the second round.

b) Solid teams, composed of singles players, have different draw paths. Italian No. 5 seeds and defending champions, Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, are in the Rojer-Tecau quarter. If they survive that, they could face the Bryans in an attempt to just reach the final let alone defend the title. No. 9 seeds Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock, the 2014 Wimbledon champions, are in the softer bottom half of the draw. With their singles game intact both on serve and off the ground, this team does have a shot at the title.