ADELAIDE NEWS & NOTES
*Hsieh-Ostapenko lead the field as the top seeds and come in hot after a title run in Brisbane. They dropped just one set in four matches en route to a win over Bucsa-Perez in Saturday’s final. Adelaide was the site of their maiden voyage as a pair last season and it wasn’t great as they went one and done with a loss in the opening round. Rounding out this year’s top four seeds are Siniakova-Zhang, Muhammad-Routliffe and Danilina-Krunic. Only Siniakova-Zhang didn’t play a tournament in 2026’s opening week down under and in New Zealand.
*Last year’s tournament saw a pair of unseeded duos in the final with Guo-Panova emerging victorious over Haddad Maia-Siegemund 7-5, 6-4. Guo-Panova were 2.65 (+165) underdogs in the final. That marked the second underdog winner in the last three runs of the Adelaide International. Overall, there were five dog winners in 2025 out of 14 completed matches. Two came in round one and then one each in the quarters, semis and final. Those numbers were up from just two underdog scores in 2023.
*The 2025 final finished in straight sets. That made it four straight seasons where the Adelaide final completed in two sets. Only the first two runs of the tournament in 2020 and 2021 saw a super tie break finish in the final. Overall last year, there just were not a whole lot of STBs with only three for the entire tournament. All three came in the quarterfinals or later. Outside of 2023 when the field was expanded, there have been between four and six STBs per run in Adelaide.
Three of the last four finalists in Adelaide have been unseeded. On top of that, four of the six career runs of this tournament have produced at least one unseeded finalist with two of them winning the titles. That means it pays to look at the unseeded field this week to scout out potential deep runners this week.
Perez-Schuurs
This new 2026 pairing will be making their debut in Adelaide. Perez started the year off in Brisbane with Bucsa and arrives in good form after making the final. Schuurs makes her season debut. They are in a wide open looking quarter, so they could factor into the business end of this tournament if the chemistry shows out. That’s obvious a guess as we have yet to see them in action, but both are certainly skilled and have shown good adaptability to switching partners with success.
Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez
This is a danger duo. We saw them briefly in 2025 with three tournaments played that produced a title in Monterrey in the Summer and a solid third round showing at the U.S. Open. I already mentioned that Bucsa started out the season in Brisbane with Perez with a solid showing. Melichar-Martinez plays her first match of the season this week. They are in the same quarter as Perez-Schuurs and will open against (3)Muhammad-Routliffe who played in Brisbane, but lost their opener. That opener summons the BANGER ALERT from me.
Bouzkova-Stefani
An interesting first time pairing arrives in Adelaide with Stefani as the clear “specialist” amongst the two. The Brazilian had a superb 2025 with most of that action coming alongside Babos. They won four titles together and made the WTA Finals’ championship match. Bouzkova only played 13 doubles matches a year ago, but had some success with Danilina on grass where they won the Eastbourne titles. They seem pretty boom or bust to me, but which one is the question?
ONE AND DONE WATCH
Being very early in the new season, there is plenty of reason to believe that the trend will continue in 2026 a seed or seeds fall in their openers in Adelaide. Here is a look at how seeds have fared here in the last five runs.
As you see, there have been multiple seeded one and dones at this stop in each of the last five seasons. In the four years in that span that featured a similar field size to 2026, at least two seeds have dropped their openers. That includes the top seed losing three times. Let’s take a look at the seeds who could be in trouble early this week.
(1)Hsieh-Ostapenko
I can hear you grumbling, Pig are you nuts?!?! Yes, but that’s neither here nor there. Before you dismiss Kato-Stollar against the 2026 Brisbane champs, look no further than what they did in Beijing last Fall. In their debut as a pair, Kato-Stollar took out Hunter-Krawczyk, Kudermetova-Mertens and Babos-Stefani en route to the final. They lost to Errani-Paolini there in a super tie break. They did lose their 1st match of 2026 against the Kichenoks in a super tie break, but I think they possess plenty of danger for the top seeds who already appear to have the reps ready for Melbourne next week.
(3)Muhammad-Routliffe
I do like this pair quite a bit for 2026. They have already seen success in limited experience together with a title run back in Cincinnati in 2024 (6-2 overall). This is another tough spot though against a veteran pair like Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez. The seeds have seen several super tie breaks already in just eight matches played in their careers with five matches going the distance. They have only dropped one, but that one came in Brisbane in their season debut. Expect this one to be a real good battle.
DRAW PREVIEW
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QUARTER ONE
Most people will look at Hsieh-Ostapenko and etch their names in stone to get to a semifinal with this set up. I can’t argue too much with that after their Brisbane run, but I do think their opener is that early spot to watch. I talked about Kato-Stollar earlier and the ability they showed to knock off some of the best teams on tour last year. Will they step up against top tier competition again? It may be unlikely, but not impossible. The match opposite of this in round one should be interesting with a pair of teams short on time together.
Lyudmyla Kichenok teams with Desirae Krawczyk for the first time since 2019. Their opponents, Khromacheva-Panova, played their first tournament together last week in Brisbane. They split a pair of matches, losing a super tie break against the Kichenok sisters. I’ll take that match toughness and reps to survive round one. I think the thing to watch with Hsieh-Ostapenko is how focused Ostapenko is on doubles this week. She lost her singles opener in Brisbane, so she’ll be looking to get going in singles this week in Adelaide. Does that affect her any for doubles? Probably not much, but just something to think on.
QUARTER TWO
(3)Muhammad-Routliffe are the seeds in this quarter. Their opener is a tough one with Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez in their path. Bucsa-MM went 6-2 as a pair in 2025 with losses to Townsend-Zhang and Dabrowski-Routliffe. I do like that Muhammad-Routliffe got in their reps in Brisbane in spite of the opening loss, while Bucsa and Melichar-Martinez have to work on familiarity a bit to start off the week. That could give the seeds an edge early, but don’t be surprised if this match goes the distance. I don’t think an upset early in the year would be a big shock.
The survivor of that one faces off against either Perez-Schuurs or Potapova-Zvonareva. The Russian pair has the advantage of playing together in the past with 14 career matches together, but the last one was in 2024. For me, Perez-Schuurs are one of the intriguing new pairings of 2026. There is plenty of quality in those two, it’s a question of how long it takes for that quality to mesh and produce on the doubles court. Zvonareva already jumped out the gate with a strong showing alongside Shibahara in Canberra last week as that pair made the final and I’ve already talked about Perez’s success in Brisbane. It’s really just a matter of which pair finds their rhythm best in Adelaide. It’s a toss-up to me.
TOP HALF FORECAST
Hsieh-Ostapenko are the strongest team on paper and based on form. Still, early in a season, there are always some mild surprises as players peek ahead just a bit to the Australian Open. Also keep in mind that the top seeded pair in Adelaide has only won the title once (2020) and only been involved in the final twice! There are truly a handful of teams in this top half that look to have a realistic shot to get to the final. Hsieh-Ostapenko will be the favorites no doubt, but keep your eyes on Muhammad-Routliffe if they get away with a win this week. They’ll be keen to get it going after only playing one match in Brisbane. The Unseeded Menaces could still have a say with the second quarter loaded with plenty of options not to mention Kato-Stollar if they can pull off the stunner against the top seeds to open.
SEMIFINAL PIX: (1)Hsieh-Ostapenko vs Perez-Schuurs
QUARTER THREE
(4)Danilina-Krunic fell short of another final in Brisbane last week, but they still showed well with a semifinal berth. That run ended in a super tie break loss to Bucsa-Perez. This pair is now 21-9 on outdoor hard courts in their careers together. They have made four finals on this surface and will be favored to at least grab another semifinal with this set up. Czechs Valentova-Vondrousova square off against them in round one with this being their debut as a doubles pair. Neither is a doubles regular, so getting a team like the fourth seeds with solid chemistry will be a massive challenge. I’m expecting Danilina-Krunic to take care of business in straight sets.
On the opposite side of this quarter, Bouzkova-Stefani will take the court together for the first time. Their opponents, Eikeri-Neel, are a pair with history and a 25-15 mark together. Their last doubles pairing was in 2024, but they’ve shown that matters very little. In the three seasons where they have paired up at least once, their opening tournament of the season has resulted in a semifinal and two finals with one title. They won’t be easy to put away. I think as long as Danilina-Krunic stay focused, they should be the ones to move into the semifinals. I’d look to Eikeri-Neel as sleeps in this section.
QUARTER FOUR
Royalty kicks off its 2026 campaign as WTA doubles queen Katerina Siniakova makes her season debut in Adelaide alongside Zhang Shuai. Zhang partnered with Samsonova in a season opening loss in Brisbane last week. The Siniakova-Zhang combination didn’t find the same success last year in limited play that they did in their initial partnership back in 2024 when they took home the titles in Ghangzhou. Last year, they split four matches. This quarter still looks ripe for the taking though with the other three duos all short in experience together as well.
Siniakova-Zhang battle Aussie wildcards Birrell-Joint to open. I won’t completely sleep on these two with their first pairing together at Wimbledon last year resulting in as solid third round finish that included a win over Muhammad-Schuurs. If Siniakova-Zhang aren’t quite in rhythm, this team could challenge for a win. The match opposite this in round one looks like a real guesser. You have Kenin pairing with Siegemund, but the German retired in her singles qualifying match here. That leaves the question of how healthy she may be or whether she’s really going to push it much in doubles with the Australian Open waiting around the corner. The other pair is Timea Babos teaming with Leylah Fernandez for the first time. We know Babos is taking time away from tennis after this early season swing to start a family, so I’d rate each match as having just a bit more urgency potentially for her. Will that translate to wins?
Most are going to go with Siniakova-Zhang as the semifinal pairing to come out of this quarter. I do think however that if there is a time when even the best of the best are vulnerable, it’s in these first tournaments of the season prior to Melbourne. Their path still looks very good though, so I do still find it hard to go against them in this spot.
BOTTOM HALF FORECAST
Danilina-Krunic could again prove to be a terror with that pair rarely having “off” tournaments in their experiences together. Their quarter is laid out well enough for a semifinal to be an expectation, but I do think they could be cut a bit short with that Bouzkova-Stefani/Eikeri-Neel winner being a possible fly-in-the-ointment type. Siniakova-Zhang are a bit tumultuous too with their results showing that it’s not all roses when they pair up. One thing you’re usually going to see with the #2 seeds is the effort with both their career losses coming in super tie breaks. You’re going to have to really earn a win over them IF you get one. I do think a seed looks more probable to make the final in this half, but again as an early season tournament, expect the unexpected, right?
SEMIFINAL PIX: Eikeri-Neel vs (2)Siniakova-Zhang
This should be a fascinating week with pairs seeking to get match reps in before the Australian Open. Winning titles is always the goal, but ahead of a Grand Slam, things can always be tricky. That is why I would be somewhat surprised to see Hsieh-Ostapenko run through the field this week and grab back-to-back titles. Obviously it could happen, they’re in form and an elite pair, but it’s a guess on my part. So who does that leave as my favorites to win in Adelaide?
Given the success of unseeded duos here, I think you have to include at least one as a key contender for the week. Although it is also guess work here due to them not having paired, I am looking at that Perez-Schuurs combo. I like that Perez comes in having already played and made a final, while Schuurs has shown great adaptability when it comes to new partnerships. They may need more reps, but I’m going to go for immediate success. Given their quarter affords them some time to find their rhythm, I’ll take Siniakova-Zhang as the other option this week. They may not have found their best when paired up last year, but the draw gives them some opportunity here to find their best.
As a quick reminder to wrap things up, I will have an ATP Adelaide preview coming also. So keep your eyes out for that on Monday most likely. Welcome back to tennis and always WATCH MORE DOUBLES.
Siniakova-Zhang
Perez-Schuurs
