@hanlonwalsh.bsky.social
Tennis Writer (Mostly Doubles) & Media/Comms Specialist ๐พ๐๏ธ๐ข https://www.thetennistribe.com/doubles-news/
Beyond delighted to catch up with Mary Carillo on the occasion of her being voted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Lots of stuff here, including the importanceโand costsโof saying the things others in the sport donโt and wonโt.
Watch at Bounces:
www.benrothenberg.com/p/mary-caril...
What were the best doubles stories of 2025? โฌ๏ธ
25.11.2025 13:46 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0- Madi Keysโ AO run & the murdererโs row lineup she beat along the way
- Anisimovaโs rise up the rankings & into American casual fan consciousness
- The best WTA top 8-9 in nearly a decade who distanced themselves from the pack
- Hsieh & Ostapenko putting on a doubles show (but 0 titles)
โI've said to Neal Iโd like to play with him when I come back. But if he does well with his partner and decides to carry on, then I'll be looking for someone else.โ
Good on Joe Salisbury for taking time off to heal mentally and wish him the best ๐
www.bbc.com/sport/tennis...
Neal Skupski & Joe Salisbury, the perennial silver medalists of 2025, were a top 5 ATP doubles team this year without winning a single title. They finished 0-6 in finals:
๐ฅ Doha 500
๐ฅ Barcelona 500
๐ฅ Roland Garros
๐ฅ Toronto Masters 1000
๐ฅ US Open
๐ฅ ATP Finals
Double H are the ATP Finals Champions ๐
Incredible end to the season for the duo. Starting with the Australian Open then picking up again in Beijing and Paris. They are one of the pairs staying together next year which is great.
#NittoATPFinals ๐พ
Neal Skupski & Joe Salisbury are the only top 8 team without an ATP title this year.
Although very consistent, theyโre 0-5 in finals, including 2 heartbreaking slam losses at RG and USO.
Will they reverse their finals fate today & end 2025 with the year-end trophy in Turin?
All 5 British doubles players competing in Turin advance to the semis:
๐ฌ๐ง Julian Cash & Lloyd Glasspool
๐ฌ๐ง Henry Patten (with Heliovaara)
๐ฌ๐ง Joe Salisbury & Neal Skupski
They join Italian home favorites Simone Bolelli & Andrea Vavassori to round out the final four ๐ฅ
Erin and Asia are close friends, and Iโve heard it may be Asiaโs last year on tour + she wants to end her career playing with a good friend.
13.11.2025 02:08 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Update on new dubs partnerships Iโm hearing for 2026โฆ
WTA
โข Ellen Perez & Demi Schuurs
โข Erin Routliffe & Asia Muhammad
โข Jess Pegula & McCartney Kessler
ATP
โข Neal Skupski & Christian Harrison
โข Evan King & John Peers
Up for Grabs?
โข Dabrowski
โข Stefani
โข Salisbury
2026-2027 predictionโฆ
Novak Djokovic de-prioritizes peaking at the slams and focuses on winning ATP 500 & 250 titles, surpassing Federer (103) and eventually Jimmy Connors (109) in all-time career title records.
At 101 titles, heโs only two away from tying Federer now.
Get to know the ATP Finals doubles field in our preview, featuring 5 of 8 teams who return from 2024 โญ๏ธ
No. 2 Heliovaara/Patten
No. 3 Granollers/Zeballos
No. 4 Arevalo/Pavic
No. 6 Krawietz/Puetz
No. 7 Bolelli/Vavassori
10 storylines & team breakdown โฌ๏ธ
tinyurl.com/4dnszpar
Massive opening win for Italian home favorites, Simone Bolelli & Andrea Vavassori. The No. 7 seeds dismiss top seeds Cash/Glasspool 7-5, 6-3 to go 1-0 in group play.
Letโs just hope their Davis Cup captain is taking notes ๐๐ฎ๐น
2025 was such a high quality WTA season with a core top 9 who distanced themselves from the pack and continued building compelling rivalries.
This top 9 group won all 4 slams, competed in all 4 slam finals, and won 9 of the 10 Masters 1000s.
Best WTA season since ______?
Hearing of a few new WTA doubles pairings in the works for 2026:
Erin Routliffe & Asia Muhammad
Ellen Perez & Demi Schuurs
Jess Pegula & McCartney Kessler
Who else?
No. 4 Elise Mertens & Veronika Kudermetova oust the top-seeded Italians Errani/Paolini 6-3, 6-3 to go 2-1 in group play.
They won the WTA Finals in 2022 & have the most H2H wins (9-3) over the top 8 field this yearโฆdonโt sleep on them. (My pick to win the title)
The Hsieh & Ostapenko train keeps on rollinโ in Riyadh ๐
The fan favorites take out No. 1 seeds Errani/Paolini 6-3, 6-4 in a clinical performance to go 2-0 (and in great position to make the SFs).
Hsieh last won this event in 2013 & Ostapenko eyes her 1st WTA Finals title.
38 year-old Sara Errani & 39 year-old Hsieh Su-Wei both competed in the same WTA Finals events in 2013 & 2014.
Eleven years later, theyโre back for another WTA Finals, competing against each other for a semifinals spot today ๐๐ป
No. 2 Katerina Siniakova & Taylor Townsend edge past No. 7 Timea Babos & Luisa Stefani 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 in their opening match in Riyadh.
The 2024 finalists are 29-5 on the year with the highest win percentage (85%) among the top 8 field ๐ฏ
Defending champs Gaby Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe are the longest standing doubles team at the top of the game, and the only pair to make 3 consecutive WTA Finals.
They would be the 1st team to successfully defend this title since Babos/Mladenovic in 2018-2019.
thetennistribe.com/2025-wta-fin...
No. 3 Gaby Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe open up their title defense with a 6-3, 7-6 win over No. 5 Mirra Andreeva & Diana Shnaider ๐ฅ
Gaby & Erin are the longest standing team in the field and the only pair to make 3 straight WTA Finals appearances together.
No. 6 Hsieh/Ostapenko outlast No. 4 Mertens/Kudermetova 1-6, 7-5, 10-5 to round out day 1 in Riyadh ๐ฅ
Hsieh was nearly flawless in the 3rd set tiebreaker, all over the net from corner to corner. The 39-year-old is in her 6th WTA Finals appearance in the last 13 years.
No. 1 seeds Sara Errani & Jasmine Paolini come out of the gates strong with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 8 Demi Schuurs & Asia Muhammad.
Their impressive 2025 haul includes a Roland Garros trophy, 3 masters 1000 titles, and BJK Cup win for Team Italy ๐ฎ๐น
Check out our WTA Finals doubles preview breaking down a stacked final 8 field that includes:
๐ All 4 slam champs of 2025
๐ฏ 52 combined dubs majors
๐ธ 7 former No. 1 players
๐ฅ 7 Olympic medalists
Will Gaby & Erin defend their title?
thetennistribe.com/2025-wta-fin...
In 2025, all top 4 doubles seeds at the WTA Finals split the 4 slams, won five Masters 1000s, and made the US Open semifinals in a top 4 battle:
No. 1 Errani & Paolini (RG)
No. 2 Siniakova & Townsend (AO)
No. 3 Dabrowski & Routliffe (USO)
No. 4 Kudermetova & Mertens (Wimby)
Elise Mertens, 5x slam champ and former No. 1, has now qualified for the WTA Finals 7 years in a row with 5 different partners:
2018: Demi Schuurs
2019: Aryna Sabalenka
2021: Hsieh Su-Wei
2022: Veronika Kudermetova
2023: Storm Hunter
2024: Hsieh x 2
2025: Kudermetova x 2
Wow.
I could easily see Alexander Bublik (15th in the ATP Finals race yet still a chance to qualify) coming out of nowhere to win the Paris Masters event and grab the last spot for Turin. It would be verryyyy on brand for him.
29.10.2025 23:05 โ ๐ 3 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0A trio of WTA doubles veterans will make their 7th WTA Finals appearance with multiple partners:
๐จ๐ฟ Katerina Siniakova
๐จ๐ฆ Gaby Dabrowski
๐ง๐ช Elise Mertens
Siniakova & Mertens have made 7 straight appearances while Dabrowski has qualified for 7 of the last 8, dating back to 2017.
Three big doubles wins for Americans this past week ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ธ
1. Nicole Melichar won her 17th WTA title in Ningbo w/ Samsonova.
2. Evan King & Christian Harrison won in Brussels, holding onto the No. 8 spot in ATP Finals race.
3. Rob Galloway won his 3rd ATP title in Stockholm.
Feels like Katerina Siniakova may be conducting doubles partner auditions this fall for the 2026 seasonโฆ
โ
Qualifies for WTA Finals w/ Townsend
โ
Wins Korea 500 title w/ Krejcikova
โ
Wins Wuhan 1000 title w/ Hunter
๐ค๐ป Enters Ningbo as top seed w/ Hsieh
