Doubles Take: Previewing the Miami Open

Doubles play starts today at the second Masters 1000/Premier Mandatory tournament of the year, the Miami Open. Doubles Take is here to give you a look at both the ATP and WTA draws.

If the “Sunshine Double” is to be accomplished this year, it won’t be a team that pulls it off.

All four players that won in Indian Wells are partnering someone new at the Miami Open. One of them might be able to sneak through and make it a sweep, but it’ll be a difficult task from start to finish.

Here’s a preview of what to expect in the days ahead.

THE MEN

Over the past year, one thing’s been certain: Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo will be in the mix for the title at any tournament they enter.

And that all started last year at the Miami Open.

The defending champions, who’ve already won a title in Australia this year, are the top seeds at the tournament this year and open up play against Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey.

Kubot and Melo’s opponents in the final last year—Nicholas Monroe and Jack Sock—are back, fresh off Sock’s title-winning run in Indian Wells last week with John Isner. Monroe and Sock face a difficult opening match against the No. 5 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.

The second seeds, Henri Kontinen and John Peers, have been struggling for the bulk of the young season. Their opener today against the Dutch team of Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop could add to their duress.

It’s not easy, though, for any of the teams: Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, who went undefeated for the month of January, will play Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, the 2016 French Open champs, in the first round.

And while it might not be as enticing as Indian Wells for some of the top seeds in singles to jump in the doubles, Miami will have some bold-faced names in the mix—perhaps none bigger than Novak Djokovic. The former world No. 1 will team up with countryman Viktor Troicki against Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya on Friday.

THE WOMEN

Last year, Gabriela Dabrowski and Yifan Xu came out of nowhere as a team to win their first title together. The defending champions now return to Miami as the number-three seeds and will face the dangerous pairing of Elise Mertens and Demi Schuurs in the first round.

Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, the top seeds, have been nothing if not spectacular over the course of their time as a team. The 2018 Australian Open runners-up face the wild-card pairing of Genie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens.

Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, this year’s winners in Melbourne, are already out. Right off the bat, they lose in a deciding tiebreak to dangerous floaters Ashleigh Barty and CoCo Vandeweghe. While Vandeweghe is best known for her singles play, she’s more than able to hold her own on a doubles court, and Barty happens to be one of the most consistent dual threats on either tour.

On the bottom half of the draw, the Chan sisters—Hao-Ching and Yung-Jan—are seeded No. 2 and face a tricky opener in the pairing of Jelena Ostapenko and Anastasija Sevastova. Yung-Jan's partner in the first few weeks of the season, Andrea Hlavackova, will be sharing the court with her countrywoman Barbora Strycova, her intended teammate last week in Indian Wells.

A mix-up forced Strycova and Su-Wei Hsieh together in the desert and they made the most of their unexpected partnership, winning the title.

Everyone’s in their right place in South Beach, which should make for some thrilling battles.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias