The 2016 Rio Olympic Games are finally here and with it comes the world’s best tennis players in action. The women’s doubles competition begins on August 6th and concludes on August 13th. The field this year is of course packed with talent across the board with Serena and Venus Williams leading the draw as the number one seeds. However, the competition is depth with stacked pairs causing for a rather unpredictable draw.
Williams Sisters’ Quarter
The Americans open up their Olympic Games against the Czech team of Barbora Strycova and Lucie Safarova. Serena and Venus are in full form with having lifted the title at Wimbledon, but they will be challenged by the power-finesse combination of Safarova and Strycova. However, the Williams’ past success as a pair deems them as the overwhelming favorite against a solid team made up of two decorated doubles players. The winner of Serena/Venus-Strycova/Safarova waits for either Jans-Ijnacik/Kania or Bouchard/Dabrowski who both got special invitations to the games from the ITF.
Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci are reunited as a doubles team for the Rio Olympics. The entertaining Italian duo sits as the eighth seed in the draw and will kick off their tournament against Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic. The German team is rather more successful in singles competition, but they look to make some noise on the doubles court. However, Errani and Vinci have five Grand Slam titles together and their experience and craft cannot be overcome by the Germans. The winner of the Italian-German matchup eventually faces the Kichenok sisters or Xu/Zheng, two accomplished doubles teams.
Quarterfinals: Serena/Venus - Errani/Vinci
Semifinalists: Serena/Venus
First-round match to watch for: Serena/Venus - Strycova/Safarova
Muguruza/Suarez Navarro’s Quarter
Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro have the draw’s lone Brazilian team standing in their path. The Spaniards’ first round opponents are Paula Cristina Goncalves and Teliana Pereira who both will make their Olympic debut along with Muguruza. Muguruza/Suarez Navarro have everything going in their favor in their opening match besides an home-crowd advantage. The Brazilian crowd is expected to be largely supportive for their countrywomen, but their country’s loving support is not enough to oust the experienced fourth seeds. Whoever comes out on top in the Spain-Brazil matchup has either Tawan’s Hsieh/Chuang or Kazakhstan’s Voskoboeva/Shevedova in round two.
Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova gear up in their nation’s colors for the Olympics after going through travel troubles on the way to Rio. The Russians are the seventh seeds in the event and are presented with a nice draw. Their opening round sees them up against Arina and Anastasia Rodionova, who received a last-minute invitation to the Games. The Russians put away the Aussies earlier this year and with their recent form, Vesnina and Makarova look unstoppable. The victors go on to play Babos/Jani or Olaru/Mitu in the round of 16 with the Russians being the favorite to get through to the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals: Muguruza/Suarez Navarro - Vesnina/Makarova
Semifinalists: Vesnina/Makarova
First-round match to watch for: Vesnina/Makarova - Rodionova/Rodionova
Chan Sisters’ Quarter
Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan are faced with a brutal draw with their first round match being against Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu. The Romanians put together a solid year together last year and not to mention Niculescu made the final in Montreal last week. The solid strokes of Begu and the nifty game of Niculescu are guaranteed to cause the Chans difficulties in their opener. The victor then lines up a meeting with either Konta/Watson or Jankovic/Krunic. The British team of Johanna Konta and Heather Watson boasts a diverse team of two recent successors. Watson took the mixed doubles title at her home major and her partner, Konta, clinched her first WTA title in Stanford two weeks ago. The Serbian duo has their hands full in their opening round match and needs their highest quality of doubles to stand a chance against the Brits.
Martina Hingis originally had Belinda Bencic as her partner, but Bencic’s injury caused her to pull out of Rio competition. Instead, Hingis teams up with Timea Bacsinszky and form the fifth-seeded team in the elite draw. Hingis possesses brilliant, quick hands at the net while Bacsinszky maintains a ruthless consistency from the baseline. The Swiss pair is, of course, the favorite in their opener as they await Daria Gavrilova and Samantha Stosur in round one. Whoever is to come out on top in the Swiss-Australian encounter has either Medina Garrigues/Parra Santonja or Vandeweghe/Mattek-Sands in the second round. The exciting American pair lifted the doubles title in Indian Wells this March and hold the amount of intensity and net activity to overcome the fifth seeds.
Quarterfinals: Konta/Watson - Vandeweghe/Mattek-Sands
Semifinalists: Vandeweghe/Mattek-Sands
First-round match to watch for: Hingis/Bacsinszky - Gavilova/Stosur
Garcia/Mladenovic’s Quarter
Carolina Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic kick off their Olympics against Misaki Doi and Eri Hozumi who received a special ITF invitation to compete in Rio. The Frenchwomen are deemed as the heavy favorites in their opener against the Japanese pair and as the second seed, they are expected to go far in the draw. The winner of the French-Japanese match faces either the Russian team of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Daria Kasatkina or the German duo of Anna-Lena Gronefeld and Laura Siegemund. The Russian pair consists of two top-30 singles players while the German team consists of two skilled players at the net. However, Garcia/Mladenovic’s chemistry and tactical plays are enough to put away all three teams in their section.
Andrea Hlavckova and Lucie Hradecka go up against the Ukrainian team of Elina Svitolina and Olga Savchuk in their first round match. The Czechs are the sixth seeds in this year’s Olympic doubles tournament and sit as the overwhelming favorite to escape their opener against Svitolina and Savchuk. The victor of the Czech-Ukrainian matchup eventually faces either China’s Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai or India’s Sania Mirza and Prarthana Thombare. Mirza joins forces with the world’s number 192nd doubles player. Thombare lacks the experience and the Chinese duo could capitalize, making Peng/Zhang the favorites to oust Mirza/Thombare.
Quarterfinals: Garcia/Mladenovic - Hlavckova/Hradecka
Semifinalists: Garcia/Mladenovic
First-round match to watch for: Peng/Zhang - Mirza/Thombare
Semifinals and Medal Matches Predictions
Vesnina/Makarova defeat Serena/Venus
Vandeweghe/Mattek-Sands defeat Garcia/Mladenovic
Gold-Medal Match: Vesnina/Makarova defeat Vandeweghe/Mattek-Sands
Bronze-Medal Match: Serena/Venus defeat Garcia/Mladenovic
