ADELAIDE NEWS & NOTES
*Italians’ Bolelli-Vavassori seek the first back-to-back titles in Adelaide since this tournament got rebooted back in 2020. Bolelli-Vavassori won the titles in 2025 as the three seeds when they downed (2)Krawietz-Puetz 4-6, 7-6(4), 11-9 in the final. The match was basically a pick ‘em line by oddsmakers in the final. Amazingly, it also marked the third straight season the third seeded pair won the men’s doubles titles in Adelaide.
*With those seeded title wins, you have to go back to 2022 for the last time an underdog won the championship match. Bopanna-Ramanathan were 2.45 (+145) underdogs that year when they knocked off top seeds Dodig-Melo. Overall in 2025, underdog scores were fairly rare with only six out of the 23 completed matches. Four of them came in the opening round with 3.37 (+237) being the largest hit. The total number last year was up from a measly three underdog wins in 2024. 2023 had seven underdog wins over the course of the tournament.
*If you’re looking for spots to focus your underdog search, it likely should start with the seeds coming off their first round byes. One of last year’s seeded upsets in round two produced the second biggest dog score at 2.83 (+183). In 2024, the three seeded opening losses all produced underdog winners of between 2.54 (+154) and 2.64 (+164). I’ll touch on these more in the ONE and DONE section.
*Last year’s super tie break in the final marked the second straight season that the tournament concluded with a STB. That came on the heels of three straight two set finishes since the Adelaide International was reintroduced in 2020. In all, there were ten super tie break finishes in 2025 out of the 24 matches played. Once the field size expanded to its current state back in 2022, there have been at least eight super tie breaks each run in Adelaide. Almost all of last year’s STBs came in rounds one and two with eight in those rounds combined. 2024 saw five of the eight total STBs in rounds one and two with 2023 seeing seven of nine in the first two rounds.
*This figures to be a great litmus test for teams ahead of the Australian Open with five of last year’s Tour Finals’ pairs among the participants. Cash-Glasspool lead the charge as the #1 seeds coming in off a tough finals loss in Brisbane to open their 2026 campaign. Both of last year’s finalists, Bolelli-Vavassori and Krawietz-Puetz, are also in the mix. We will also see the debut of an interesting new pairing with Harrison-Skupski coming in as the 5th seeds. There are also some unseeded debuts I’ll talk about here in the sections below.
There were no unseeded pairs in the semifinals last year, but that may just be an outlier. The previous four runs since the reboot in 2020 all featured at least one unseeded duo in the semifinals. We haven’t seen an unseeded finalist though since 2022 when Bopanna-Ramanathan won the titles. So is there a pair in this year’s unseeded field that could crash the party?
Krajicek-Mektic/Luz-Matos
The winner of this first round clash could be one to monitor. They may be stuck in the Cash-Glasspool quarter, but I don’t think that precludes them from being a threat. Krajicek-Mektic only went 3-4 last year as a pair, but were competitive in just about every match. I like this Brazilian duo of Luz-Matos who had a fine start to 2026 with a quarterfinal showing in Brisbane. The survivor here just has the feel of a team that could be trouble, even against some tough seeds.
Machac-Vocel
This pair picked right up where they left off in Brisbane with a victory in round one here in Adelaide over Pavlasek-Smith. Machac-Vocel made the semifinals in Brisbane last week and may at least have an edge of (7)Nys/Roger-Vasselin who debut this week in round two. A win there and this pair could push for at least another semifinal.
Gonzalez-Molteni
You never know when or sometimes IF these two will show up on hard courts, but the past two seasons you saw a good result during the Aussie/New Zealand swing. Two years ago, they made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and last year it was a semifinal run in Auckland. I think they’re typical boom or bust on this surface this week so flip that coin.
Schnaitter-Wallner
Another pair that has already notched a win in Adelaide. The Germans will square off against (2)Heliovaara-Patten next and certainly that could spell doom for their realistic dark horse chances. Still, don’t forget that Heliovaara-Patten loss their season debut in Brisbane last year in a super tie break and barely escaped their opener in Adelaide last year (13-11). They may do their best stuff on clay and perhaps have better runs at the Challenger level, but they are still a tough, veteran team that could blow up their quarter with an upset that would definitely give them momentum for a deep run.
ONE AND DONE WATCH
With this tournament marking the season debut for quite a few seeded pairs, the trend likely will continue with a few of them flopping early.
As you can see, at least three seeds have lost their openers in each of the last four runs in Adelaide. So who may join the carnage this year? Let’s take a look.
(2)Heliovaara-Patten
This pair has been fantastic on hard courts since teaming up in 2024, going 31-16 on the surface. They aren’t immune to a hiccup here and there though and will be making their season debut this week. Last year, they escaped their season opener in Adelaide in a super tie break (10-8). Their foes in round two are Schnaitter-Wallner who I touched on earlier. The Germans don’t have much of a track record against top tier teams as they’ve jumped between Challengers and the ATP main draw level quite a bit. This still seems like a spot where they can take advantage if Heliovaara-Patten have any trouble getting their rhythm.
(5)Harrison-Skupski
We have this brand new pairing for 2026 ready to play their first match after a bye. They get the survivor of what should be a banger between Krajicek-Mektic and Luz-Matos. I already touched on the threat level I think the survivor has, so there is every reason to believe it could be a tough escape for the seeds here in round one.
(7)Nys/Roger-Vasselin
They narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Tour Finals a year ago, but this is a harsh starter. They get Machac-Vocel who have a handful of matches already under their belt, while Nys/ERV team up for the first time after Nys began 2026 with Verbeek in Brisbane.
(8)Andreozzi-Guinard
These two played 20 matches in 2025, going 13-7 with a great run through the Asian swing in the fall. That stretch saw them make three consecutive semifinals in Hangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. Wins over Arevalo-Pavic and Heliovaara-Patten in that span show their danger, yet we do need to see more of them I think to gauge their full potential. Their opener comes off a bye against the survivor between Gonzalez-Molteni and Arends-Arneodo. I’m expecting a tough grind in round two no matter which team they face.
DRAW PREVIEW
Click HERE for the men’s doubles draw
QUARTER ONE
Cash-Glasspool lead the charge as the top seeds in this quarter. They are already set for their opener with Romios-Seggerman surviving a round one encounter with Aussies Hijikata-Schoolkate. Romios-Seggerman had some nice moments last year at the Challenger level, but this looks like too big a step up in class. Expect the top seeds to get through in straight sets. The bottom half of this quarter is where the fun looks like it will reside.
That is where we find newbies Harrison-Skupski as the seeds. It’s an intriguing combination with Skupski now starting his third straight season with a new partner. They don’t catch a break early with either Krajicek-Mektic or Luz-Matos scheduled as their opposition. I really do think either unseeded pair has a decent shot to knock out the 5th seeds. Skupski has lost his last three season openers in doubles. It’s hard for me to choose between the two unseeded pairs, but Krajicek-Mektic may be better suited to pulling off the upset. Cash-Glasspool are firm favorites to emerge as the semifinalists in this part of the draw, but I would not be stunned if they fell short to one of those unseeded danger duos.
QUARTER TWO
Last year’s runners-up, Krawietz-Puetz, highlight this section as the #4 seeds. The Germans’ half will see wildcards Bayldon-Harper pitted against another new 2026 team in King-Peers. The Aussie wildcards made the Canberra 2 Challenger final, so they can definitely ball. King-Peers lost a tight debut against Korda-Nakashima in a super tie break. I think there is a chance that this one is tight with the Aussies giving the two more experienced players a run for their money. Krawietz-Puetz have generally started seasons hot in Australia with finals in Brisbane in 2024 and last year here in Adelaide plus a quarterfinal and semifinal at the Australian Open.
In the other half, we get the match-up I talked about earlier with (7)Nys/Roger-Vasselin battling Machac-Vocel. Nys/ERV were solid here a year ago with a quarterfinal finish that served as a prelude to an Australian Open quarterfinal. Machac you’ll know of course from his singles play, but he’s continuing to evolve as a very good doubles player. We first saw it in 2024 when he and Zhang put on a show en route to a semifinal in Melbourne. They would also make the quarters at the French Open that year and Machac paired with Pavlasek to make the medal round at the Olympics that Summer. The magic wore off with Zhang, but it’s picked up with Vocel whom he paired with last year at the US Open. Another quarterfinal was the result with an upset of Arevalo-Pavic as the highlight. They’re menacing.
I like Krawietz-Puetz in their half, but I’m really digging Machac-Vocel as a potential spoiler in this spot. If there is an unseeded pair that breaks out of this quarter, they’re my pick.
TOP HALF FORECAST
On paper, it’s easy to make a case for the top two seeds, Cash-Glasspool and Krawietz-Puetz, to be on a collision course for the semifinals. Harrison-Skupski might be the wildcard among the seeds because we just don’t know what to expect from them in match number one. The unseeded field does have some intrigue to it with the likes of King-Peers, Machac-Vocel and the winner from that Krajicek-Mektic/Luz-Matos match all seeming capable of a run. This half may not be as straight-forward as expected.
SEMIFINAL PIX: Luz-Matos vs (4)Krawietz-Puetz
QUARTER THREE
Two solid seeds lead this quarter with both having been together for multiple years. Defending champs (6)Bolelli-Vavassori have made the last two Australian Open finals, so this stretch of the season seems to like them. They’ll wait off the bye to see if they get Johnson-Zielinski or Behar-Vliegen in round two. Johnson-Zielinski are a new pairing for this season with both having reps with different partners last week. Zielinski helped lead Poland to the United Cup win with five mixed doubles wins, while Johnson paired with Guinard in Brisbane for a win and a loss. Behar-Vliegen paired pretty regularly in 2025 with a 20-18 record, but most of their wins came on clay. I’m interested to see this Johnson-Zielinski combo that has played together before, way back when in Futures in 2019.
In the other half, it’s (3)Arevalo-Pavic as the seeds. This pair has been a model of consistency with 47 wins in 2024 and 48 wins in 2025. They made the semifinals in Adelaide last year, losing in a super tie break to the eventual champs. One thing that did elude this team last year were titles in the second half of the year. They won some big ones early with back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami along with two more in Madrid and Rome. But that was it. No titles after May. Hell, no finals after May. The three seeds wait to see what shakes out between Ebden-Ram and Ho-Jebens in round one. Ebden-Ram looked like they had some pretty decent chemistry in their Brisbane loss to the Special Ks, so they’ll be the pair I think that could challenge the seeds early.
This quarter is another one where the seeds stand out, but there are others in the mix to push through to a semifinal. Bolelli-Vavassori have the slightly better draw, but there are some unknowns like Johnson-Zielinski who could be pesky. Ebden-Ram look the other likely usurpers with reps already as they potentially get a shot to take down Arevalo-Pavic. That is easier said than done though as Arevalo-Pavic lost a grand total of ONE opening match out of 21 played in 2025. Give me the Italians here.
QUARTER FOUR
The final quarter is led by (2)Heliovaara-Patten who won 50 matches in 2025. They also have a solid season at avoiding opening losses, but one of their few came in their season opener in Brisbane in 2025. Schnaitter-Wallner are first up and I already outlined the Germans’ chances in this one. The thing working against them the most is just a lack of grabbing signature wins against the top tier teams on the ATP World Tour. I still think that could be tricky.
The other half looks wide open for the other quarterfinal berth. (8)Andreozzi-Guinard are the seeds. They certainly will have confidence if they end up banging heads with Heliovaara-Patten again. The two pairs squared off twice in 2025 with Heliovaara-Patten surviving 7-6, 7-6 in Beijing, but Andreozzi-Guinard getting revenge in Shanghai 2-6, 6-4, 12-10. That’s one I would love to see again. Andreozzi-Guinard will need to deal with Gonzalez-Molteni or Arends-Arneodo first. Still, I think I like the chances of an all-seeded showdown for the semifinal spot coming out of this quarter. Can Andreozzi-Guinard beat Heliovaara-Patten again?
SEMIFINAL PIX: (6)Bolelli-Vavassori vs (8)Andreozzi-Guinard
Can the Italians repeat here? It’s a tough path. If they get Arevalo-Pavic in the quarters, they’re 1-3 against them. They’re 1-3 against Heliovaara-Patten as well. They will need help I think just to get to the final. I like Krawietz-Puetz’s history in Australia, but they’ll need to avoid Cash-Glasspool who own them to the tune of four wins in five meetings. If Cash-Glasspool get to the semis, it might be a done deal for them to advance. As for relative outsiders, I do look at Andreozzi-Guinard as a pair that could surprise, even if they are seeded. If there is a true surprise, like an unseeded pair making the final, something in me says to watch Ebden-Ram.
The majority of the seeded pairs in this draw are seeing their first action of 2026 with Cash-Glasspool as the notable selection. So of course, me in my infinite wisdom, is going to overlook them this week and probably watch them make another final. Still, there are always surprises early on before the Australian Open and we already saw that in the opening week. Cabral-Miedler beating Cash-Glasspool to win the Brisbane titles anyone? Regardless, this should be a must-see match with so many of the pairs that shaped 2025 present and accounted for in Adelaide.
Happy Hunting and always WATCH MORE DOUBLES!
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Krawietz-Puetz
Andreozzi-Guinard
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