CHARLESTON NEWS & NOTES
*Krueger-Stephens won the 2024 doubles titles here to become the second straight unseeded pair to stake claim to the trophies. They were a pick ‘em at 1.92 (-109) in the final against another unseeded pair, the Kichenoks sisters. The super tie break finish was the third straight in the Charleston final.
*Super tie breaks were a massive part of last year’s run of the Charleston Open with nine of the 15 matches needing the extra frame to finish. All but one of the quarterfinals went to the STB as well as both semifinals and the final. The total was up just a tick from seven in both 2023 and 2022.
*Seeds struggled early in 2024 with three of the four seeds out in round one. Only one rated as an underdog win however due to the deep field. Top seeds Melichar-Martinez/Perez made it as far as the semifinals as the only seeds to survive the early purge. The early ousters were a stark contrast to the recent history in Charleston where a seed had not lost in round one since 2021.
*As for underdogs overall, they scored four wins in 2024. The largest score came in the semifinals when the Kichenoks took out the top seeds as 3.01 (+201) dogs. Round one featured the second highest hit at 2.48 (+148). That was the only underdog win in the opening round out of the eight matches played. The meager four hits were still double the number of underdog wins from 2023. 2022 had the most dogs in recent times with five winners out of the 15 matches played.
*Despite the lack of underdog wins, unseeded pairs still have a tradition of making deep runs in Charleston. You have to travel back to 2009 to find the last time that the semifinals didn’t have at least two unseeded pairs. The final has featured an unseeded pair in six straight runs dating back to 2018.
*This year’s field features a new one-off as the top seeds in Ostapenko-Routliffe. Ostapenko has shown an ability to mesh with different partners this year, winning here lone title with Ellen Perez, while making a pair of finals with Su-Wei Hsieh. It could be a nice change for the week for Routliffe as Dabrowski-Routliffe have stumbled since Australia with losses in five of their last six. The other big note amongst the seeds is the return of the Dolehide-Krawczyk partnership. Dolehide has partner swapped to start the season with Storm Hunter as her most recent. Krawczyk has played with two different partners with Olmos and more recently, Danielle Collins. This will be the Americans first match together since last November.
THE UNSEEDED MENACES
The history of unseeded pairs making big runs in Charleston makes that part of the field one to really dig into this week. Here is a look at the unseeded pairs that stick out as potential dark horses to watch.
BMS-Safarova
The 2017 Charleston champs reformed their famous pairing last year for the first time since 2018. They did flash some old form in their first tournament back last year in Prague, making the final. This year however, they’re 0-2 in limited play with a pair of straight sets losses. Mattek-Sands, who still takes regular reps in doubles, has struggled overall at 3-8 this year. Still, given their overall doubles prowess, you have to keep your eyes on them if they can grab an early win.
Alexandrova-Zhang
This is a pair I think really has a shot to cause some trouble. They have played previously in 2023. There, they paired in Adelaide and made the quarterfinals, losing a super tie break to Kichenok-Ostapenko. Alexandrova is in off her best doubles result of 2025, a quarterfinal in Miami paired with Peyton Stearns. Zhang has been one of the big success stories in 2025, going 18-8 in doubles with five different partners. She’s made two finals and only failed to make the quarterfinals in one of her eight tournaments played. If things work out, a real BANGER could be up in the quarterfinals against the top seeds Ostapenko-Routliffe.
Kichenok-Sutjiadi
This will be a boom or bust team. In their debut together last week in Miami, they narrowly lost to Errani-Paolini 6-1, 5-7, 12-10. It’s a sister battle in round one against (4)Kenin-Kichenok. If they escape round one, they could push into the semifinals.
Baptiste-McNally
Winners of the Charleston-2 tournament back in 2021 on clay, the Americans should be ones that you take a look at this week. They did play once this year, losing their Australian Opener 7-6, 6-4 to Babos/Melichar-Martinez. They’re in that same quarter with Kenin-Kichenok that looks wide open.
Shnaider-Stearns/Mihalikova-Nicholls
Color me INTRIGUED. While most of Shnaider’s biggest doubles moments of late have come with Andreeva, this could be a deadly duo. Stearns has had modest doubles success this season at 5-3, but usually is competitive with the majority of partners she chooses. It’s Mihalikova-Nicholls first up for this one-off pairing and the survivor of that one looks to have a good shot at competing for a semifinal spot.
ONE AND DONE WATCH
(2)Chan-Kudermetova
Things still haven’t quite clicked for this 2024 success story. They’ve dropped their opener twice in four tournaments played, including Miami last week. They square off with Dart-Olmos, who are pairing up for the week. Those two did play an ITF tournament back in 2022 and made the final, so there is some chemistry present. Dart hasn’t played as much doubles this year as she did in 2024, but she’s been competent for the most part. Olmos had a hot start with Krawczyk, winning the Singapore titles in early February. She’s lost five of six matches since then, so this is one that might be on the dartboard more so than one that looks probable as far as round one upsets. Still, I need to see Chan-Kudermetova really dig in and get going before I feel comfortable thinking they will have an easy time of it.
(4)Kenin-Kichenok
I touched on this one earlier with Lyudmyla as the seed and her sister Nadiya as the unseeded player paired with Sutjiadi. Kenin-Kichenok have avoided the one and done fate in their last two tournaments, but they have struggled to put teams away. Sutjiadi-Kichenok showed promise in that Miami loss last week and probably should have won it, so they look like a live underdog in round one.
DRAW PREVIEW
Click HERE for the doubles draw
TOP HALF
In the first quarter, all eyes will be on Ostapenko. If she’s on and Routliffe is able to blend in with Ostapenko’s power, this is championship caliber team. They should be set up for success to start against Tomova-Volynets. The test may come in the quarterfinals against either Alexandrova-Zhang or Gadecki-Hozumi. Gadecki and Hozumi are solid doubles players, so this should be a battle. I do like Alexandrova-Zhang better in that one, but it may be a tight one. Alexandrova-Zhang I think could have the right stuff to steal the semifinal spot in this quarter. I do have some questions about Zhang on clay too as she seems to need the proper partner for her best runs on dirt. Alexandrova could be that, but we have to wait and see. There’s obviously plenty of questions to answer with more WTA Roulette this week with the partner swapping.
The second quarter looks as wide open as any in this draw. Kenin-Kichenok as the seeds have not been overly impressive with their results, but have played better with a 3-2 mark over the two tournaments in the Sunshine Double. I still believe Sutjiadi-Kichenok can take them out in round one. The other opener in this section could be an underrated banger type with Baptiste-McNally battle Wu-Xu. I talked a bit about Baptiste-McNally already and McNally has really shown well since returning to a more regular doubles schedule of late. Pairing with someone she knows worked well with Kalinskaya, so it could be a similar switch on with Baptiste.
Xu-Wu have only paired once and it was on clay in Stuttgart where they lost a tight one to Krejcikova-Siegemund 3-6, 6-4, 10-7. If you can compete against two super doubles players like that, I trust you can pick back up and be competitive in Charleston. Wu has been the better results getter of the two with a 15-7 record this year that includes a semifinal in Miami, a final in Doha and two titles back in the Australian swing with Jiang as her partner. She hasn’t found the same success without Jiang in limited action this year, so that is one thing to consider. Still, they look as likely as any team in this section to grab the semifinal spot. I’d rate Sutjiadi-Kichenok as my slight favorite with Baptiste-McNally as a close second.
This whole half could be thrown into a blender and I think you’d find a different team you think can advance to the finals each time you press the button. Ostapenko-Routliffe are true wildcards as the top seeds due to their lack of experience together, but we’ve seen Ostapenko win with everybody this year. They’re an easy pick if a seed makes it. Alexandrova-Zhang are my sleepers for sure.
My Favorite: Ostapenko-Routliffe
My Sleeper: Alexandrova-Zhang
BOTTOM HALF
Dolehide-Krawczyk are the seeds to lead off this bottom half and the third quarter. The question of course will be if they can reconnect to the chemistry that saw them have a successful 2024. Getting a less experienced pair of Americans in Mateas-Smith to start should aid their cause in getting an opening win. That pair does have some experience together, but most of their work has come at the ITF level. I’d expect the seeds to advance. The other match pits the legendary experience of BMS-Safarova against McAdoo-Chang. That American pair does have a good track record in doubles with a 14-5 career record together. The question will be if that can translate to the WTA main draw level with all of that work coming at the ITF level. This quarter really comes down to whether either veteran pairing can get it going or if one of these younger duos can take advantage. I tend to think at least one of the veteran pairs will find a way, but watch out for McAdoo-Chang.
And to continue the broken record, this final quarter also looks open to any of the teams finding some form and getting on a run. Chan-Kudermetova are the seeds, but they have yet to find their best form in 2025. I still think they may be able to skirt past Dart-Olmos who are teaming for the first time. Olmos in particular has to be a bit low on confidence with losses continuing to rack up. As for the other match in this quarter in round one, MIhalikova-Nicholls are the regular pair. After making the Indian Wells final, they were done in round two in Miami. That’s more in line with most of their 2025 results. The Shnaider-Stearns pairing is interesting of course. With both also playing singles, I think you have to keep the enthusiasm tempered just a bit. Andreeva-Shnaider have managed that aspect of their partnership well, but there’s no telling if a plug gets pulled early by one of these two if they are in the midst of a singles run. They definitely still possess the goods though to make trouble for all the teams in this half.
Like the top half, there are more questions than answers when you look over the draw. You can’t even look at the seeds in this half and pencil one in as a favorite in my opinion. Chan-Kudermetova haven’t recaptured any of the magic they had last year, while Dolehide-Krawczyk will be looking for some of their own in their first match together in almost five months. They are ones that I like though if they find that connection. Remember they’re a duo that went 9-4 on clay last year, including making the French Open semifinals. That leaves plenty of wiggle room for the unseeded pairs in this half to make some noise. Most may look to the BMS-Safarova pairing based on their past, but they need to get a win first. The draw is set up for them to have a pretty good shot to score a few if they find their rhythm. I’m still looking at the survivor between Shnaider-Stearns and Mihalikova-Nicholls as the spoiler in this half.
My Favorite: (3)Dolehide-Krawczyk
My Sleeper: Shnaider-Stearns
CLOSING TIME
If you couldn’t tell already, I think this week in Charleston is awfully hard to predict. With a lot of partner switches and some scuffling pairs amongst the regular pairs in the seeded field, there’s no one coming in that screams out favorites. I think the only thing that might surprise me this week is if an unseeded pair DID NOT make the final. For the seeds, Dolehide-Krawczyk certainly have a good pedigree on clay if they can smoothly transition back to pairing together. Ostapenko-Routliffe are the real boom or bust types I think. On hard courts, I’d have an easier time putting them right at the top. On clay, both have had a bit more trouble consistently making it to finals.
PIGPIX
Alexandrova-Zhang
Dolehide-Krawczyk
DOUBLES TOURNAMENT PREVIEWS & PICKS 