The doubles competition 2017 WTA season would be kicked off in style at the Brisbane International, where four top 10 players would be part of a packed draw.
Which Teams Are Playing
The world number one doubles player Sania Mirza would be in Brisbane to defend her title from last year, but now with a different partner. She would be with her former partner, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, whom she last played together with in 2015 at the Sydney International. They would be the top seeds in Brisbane, but there would be large movements at the top of the doubles rankings if this pair were to win the title. Ironically, if Mirza and Mattek-Sands win the title to kick off the season in style, Mirza would lose her number one ranking to Mattek-Sands herself! This is due to the American not defending any points before the Australian Open, and the top-ranked Indian player being the defending champion here in Brisbane.
They would be joined by the Rio Olympics gold medalists Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, who also triumphed at the year-end WTA Finals in Singapore. After a stellar season in 2016 which saw the Russians win the titles in Montreal, Rio, and Singapore, they would want to continue their good form into 2017 and start the new season on a high note.
Abigail Spears and Katarina Srebotnik would team up as a pair for the first time to kick-start 2017, having only been on the tennis courts together as opponents, not as partners. With both players being consistent figures in the top 25 of the rankings, this pair is definitely a pair too look out for early in the season.
Srebotnik's 2016 partner Andreja Klepac would partner veteran Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who has had a career-high doubles ranking of four in the world.
Other dangerous pairings in the draw are Anna-Lena Gronefeld/Kveta Peschke and Ashleigh Barty/Casey Dellacqua. Both Gronefeld and Peschke are former members of the top 10 players in doubles, with Peschke even reaching the number one spot. Despite being a wildcard pairing, Barty and Dellecqua reached three grand slam finals in 2013 alone, with Barty being just 17 years of age then. Barty then took a break from professional tennis and participated in professional cricket, but returned to tennis once again in early 2016.
Three other former world number ones are also present in Brisbane, namely Sara Errani, Samantha Stosur, and Hsieh Su-Wei. They would be partnering Elina Svitolina, Zhang Shuai, and Laura Siegemund respectively.
Draw Preview
First Quarter
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands would open their campaign against Alize Cornet and Elise Mertens, a pair that they should be able to get past through easily. Their quarterfinal opponents would either be Kateryna Bondarenko and Yulia Putintseva or the pairing of Irina-Camelia Begu and Daria Kasatkina, of which all 4 players are singles players, and the top seeds should be able to get past through them easily too.
Prediction: Mirza/Mattek-Sands d. Begu/Kasatkina
Second Quarter
Fourth seeds Andreja Klepac and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez faces a tough opener, having been drawn against Anna-Lena Gronefeld and Kveta Peschke, with both of them all achieving success on the doubles court previously in their careers. It would be tough to decide the winner now, but the winner of this match would be facing either Hsieh Su-Wei and Laura Siegemund or Christina McHale and Asia Muhammad.
Prediction: Gronefeld/Peschke d. McHale/Muhammad
Third Quarter
There would be a blockbuster first round match in the third quarter, with the comeback pairing of Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellecqua being drawn against third seeds Abigail Spears and Katarina Srebotnik. It would be interesting to see who wins the match, because Barty had only returned to professional tennis in early 2016, and it would be questionable if she could play her best tennis again. The winner would face either an all-American pairing of Irina Falconi and Shelby Rogers or Oksana Kalashnikova and Aleksandra Krunic.
Prediction: Spears/Srebotnik d. Falconi/Rogers
Fourth Quarter
The fourth quarter of the draw could be said as the trickiest part of the draw, with all pairings being capable of an upset. Second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina are faced with a tough draw, opening their 2017 against the pairing of Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova. They would then face a tricky pairing in either Sara Errani and Elina Svitolina, or Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai. Both Errani and Stosur are former world number ones in doubles and are definitely able to defeat higher-ranked pairs.
Prediction: Makarova/Vesnina d. Stosur/Zhang
Semifinal Predictions: Mirza/Mattek-Sands d. Gronefeld/Peschke, Makarova/Vesnina d. Spears/Srebotnik
Final Prediction: Makarova/Vesnina d. Mirza/Mattek-Sands
The final is very likely going to be between the top two seeds, but this writer chooses the Russian pairing over the top seeds as they have been playing together for a long period of time, and knows each other very well. Whereas Mirza and Mattek-Sands have not been partners for a period of time already, and in this writer's humble opinion, they would not be as solid together as before.