Doubles Take: Stuttgart, Nottingham & more

The grass-court season is here, and Doubles Take is here with a look at the first crop of champs and a preview of what’s ahead.

FAMILIAR TERRITORY

After enjoying the best campaign of his career in 2018—with four titles and a Wimbledon semifinal finish—Dominic Inglot was slow to get out of the blocks this year.

Looking to get on track and kicking off his grass-court run in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the defending champion found success again—with a new partner this time.

Inglot and Austin Krajicek teamed up to win the event, defeating Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof in the final. On their way to the championship match, the English-American duo knocked off the top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, the 2017 Wimbledon winners.

FIRST TIME’S THE CHARM

Take a couple of veterans, pair them together and who knows? Sometimes, something good can happen right off the bat.Just ask Aleksandra Krunic and Shuko Aoyama.

Playing their first tournament together, the two won the women’s title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, beating local favorites Lesley Kerkove and Bibiane Schoofs in the final.

WHEN THE BEST STARS TEAM UP…

Over the course of the past several years, John Peers and Bruno Soares have consistently ranked among the game’s best—with their respective partners, Henri Kontinen and Jamie Murray.

Soares and Murray have split up, while Kontinen took the week off. Soares and Peers decided to team up in Stuttgart, and found that good things can happen when powerhouses partner up.

The top seeds took out Rohan Bopanna and young singles standout Denis Shapovalov in straight sets to claim their first title together. They won’t get a chance to continue their run this week as Peers and Kontinen have reunited and Soares will start up with Mate Pavic.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

On the ITF circuit, Desirae Krawczyk and Giuliana Olmos have won six of nine tournaments since 2017, and had reached a couple of finals on the main tour before last week in Nottingham.

There, the duo made their biggest breakthrough to date.

Krawczyk and Olmos fought through a rain-plagued week to win their first WTA title together, beating Ellen Perez and Arina Rodionova in the final. With the win, Olmos became the first woman from Mexico to win a title in the Open Era.

THIS WEEK

All eyes in tennis are on Queen's Club, where Andy Murray is making his return to the game after hip-resurfacing. The former world No. 1 in singles is getting a taste of competition in the doubles draw, where he and Feliciano Lopez will face top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the first round. Rain has already caused a backlog, with the only team to advance so far being Bob and Mike Bryan.

The other men’s event on the calendar is in Halle, where the top seeds are Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. The French Open champs, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, are out, having dropped their opener to countrymen Dustin Brown and Tim Puetz.

At the WTA event in Birmingham, there’s already been a huge upset as Gabriela Dabrowski and Yifan Xu lost their opening match. And in case you missed it, Venus Williams made an appearance in the draw, partnering Brit Harriet Dart, before bowing out in their first round. And in Mallorca, the top seeds are Elise Mertens and Shuai Zhang, two of the best in the game right now with their respective usual partners, Aryna Sabalenka and Samantha Stosur.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias