Doubles Take: Breaking down the WTA Aussie draw

Between them, the top four seeds in women’s doubles at this year’s Australian Open have captured six of the past eight majors and multiple Premier titles, and they’ve also passed the top spot in the rankings back and forth over the course of the past two seasons.

And considering the way those teams have been playing since the second half of last year and already in 2020, the battle for the top prize in Melbourne promises to be fierce one.

Barbora Strycova and Su-Wei Hsieh, last year’s Wimbledon champs, have already found Australia to their liking as they captured the title in Brisbane to start the year.

Not to be outdone, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, the No. 4 seeds in Melbourne, have also spent time in the winners’ circle already by coming out on top in Shenzhen.

Should the seeds hold up, those two teams could meet in a blockbuster semifinal, but the path to the final four won’t be easy. Former teammates Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yifan stand in the way, but with their respective different partners: Dabrowski is teaming with Jelena Ostapenko and Xu with Nicole Melichar.

Xu and Melichar demonstrated they make a good team by winning in Adelaide right before the Australian, but tumbled out in Round 1 to Americans Jennifer Brady and Caroline Wozniacki.

Other 2020 champs, like Asia Muhammad (this time pairing with Sabrina Santamaria), and Nadiia Kichenok and Sania Mirza lurk in the top portion of the draw, as well.

The bottom half is headlined by Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, the second seeds who know what it takes to triumph in Melbourne.

Their record at the year’s first major the past two years is a near-perfect 11-1 as they followed up their 2018 title with a runner-up finish in ’19. The next-highest seeds in the bottom half of the draw are last year’s US Open winners Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens in the No. 3 spot. Early on in the tournament, both of those major champions could face some tough tests. The No. 7 seeds, Hao-Ching and Latisha Chan, are there in that half, as are Kveta Peschke and Demi Schuurs, the eighth seeds.

Or it could be an unseeded team that really shakes things up down there.

Shuai Zhang, who won last year with Samantha Stosur, is playing with Shuai Peng. Singles world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, a Grand Slam champion in doubles, is teaming up with Julia Goerges. And the teenage sensations Coco Gauff and Caty McNally will look to add to their already-impressive doubles credentials with a solid run at the year’s first major.