BIRMINGHAM NEWS & NOTES
*Demoliner-Doumbia won the titles in 2025 as the four seeds with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 win over unseeded Hildalgo-Trhac. The champs were 1.62 (-161) favorites in the match. Last year’s Birmingham Open was the first time this Challenger stop had been utilized since 2003.
*The super tie break finish marked just the third for last year’s tournament out of 13 completed matches. All three involved a seeded pair with two coming in the opening round.
*Underdogs had a nice time in Birmingham last year with five winners out of 13 matches. Three came in round one and two more in the quarterfinals. The two largest scores were in the opening round at 2.52 (+152) and 2.83 (+183). Those both came at the expense of the top two seeds losing.
*Only one of the four seeds made it as far as the semifinals, so unseeded pairs definitely need to be monitored again in 2026. It’s especially poignant to note which seeded pairs might have little or no experience together with this being the first grass court tournament of the swing. Three out of last year’s four seeds were not regular partners, although the Demoliner-Doumbia pairing was a first time team up that wound up in the title run.
*This year’s seeded field fits in that mold with Sadio Doumbia back to try for a repeat with a new partner, Santiago Gonzalez. This will be their first tournament together. The second seeds are Kirkov-Peers, another first time team up. Rounding out the seeded field are more familiar partners in Romboli-Smith who have gone 24-23 since they first paired last year. They were 4-4 on grass last season, including a finals trip at one of the Nottingham Challengers. Ho-Jebens are the fourth seeds. They’ve been a regular pairing in 2026, going 11-13 with the highlight still being their Rotterdam finals appearance as qualifiers.
As last year showed and as many weeks show at the Challenger level, unseeded pairs usually have a shot for success. Here’s a look at this week’s most interesting duos in the Birmingham field.
Reynolds-Watt
This is a pair that thrives more on hard courts, but they have the requisite chemistry you’d want for a sleeper team. They are 12-15 this season, but about half those losses have come in super tie breaks. They’re usually a thorn in the side of most pairs they meet, especially on equal footing at this level. They have to contend with the top seeds to start, but with Doumbia-Gonzalez learning each other on-the-fly, they could open up the draw with an upset and take advantage.
Hidalgo-Trhac
This might be the hardest unseeded pair in this draw. They’re coming straight off a good showing at the French Open, where they lost 7-6, 7-6 to Goransson-King in round two. They’re 2025 finalists at this tournament, so you know grass isn’t an issue for them. Nobody wants to see these guys in their path after they went 9-2 on the surface last season with two Challenger finals (1 title) and another semifinal.
Hijikata-McDonald
These two have experience together with a 3-1 mark in a pair of tournaments back in 2024. That included a 1-1 mark on grass at Hertogenbosch. Three of their four matches have gone to super tie breaks, so expect them to be in every match they play. The bottom half of the draw, where they reside, seems a little more open to me and that could play well for them. One thing to watch for of course is how they load manage playing singles as well.
Damm-Mochizuki
These two play the aforementioned pair of Hijikata-McDonald and I think the survivor is going to make some noise in Birmingham. They have not paired together, but Damm has proven to be a factor when he plays doubles with that monster serve that should play really nice on grass. He’s 8-3 in doubles in 2026 and his last tournament back in April was a title run on clay in Sarasota. Mochizuki is more of a question mark with just one doubles match this year, but if he can serve adequately, this pair feels like they will be in most matches due to the Damm serve.
Broom-Stevenson
You always have to look at the British pairs when things turn to grass, right? Well these two have played in one tournament and it was the Nottingham-5 Challenger. It was an indoor hard court and they won the titles back in January. They’re now 17-4 in their careers together, so there is no denying the chemistry. They’re a pair to keep an eye on, but they’ll have to get past (2)Kirkov-Peers to open.
ONE AND DONE WATCH
Last year’s return to Birmingham saw the top two seeds go down in their openers. Will there be more of that in 2026? Here’s the toughest seeded matchups in my estimation.
(1)Doumbia-Gonzalez
I touched on this one above as this first time pair contend with Reynolds-Watt in round one. It will be interesting to see if the unseeded Kiwis fare better on grass in just their second career match. They lost to Cash-Tracy at the Newport Challenger last year in their first run on grass. The nuanced surface is often a great equalizer for untested pairs. This might be the right time for them though with Doumbia-Gonzalez working together for the first time.
(2)Kirkov-Peers
Another first time team up and they face another experienced pair in Brits Broom-Stevenson. The only thing working against the wildcards is not having played on grass together, but both players have plenty of experience on the surface with other partners and in singles. That’s not a worry to me. This really has the feeling of one that could see the underdogs barking for the win.
(3)Romboli-Smith
If you didn’t skip the Unseeded Menaces section, you know why the three seeds are on the list. They have what looks to be the toughest opener with last year’s runners-up Hidalgo-Trhac in round one. Romboli-Smith have struggled this year at 2-5, but as I mentioned earlier, they did have a nice run on grass in Nottingham last year. I think this might be a big time BANGER ALERT for round one and might wind up being one of the more competitive matches of the tournament.
DRAW PREVIEW
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TOP HALF
Quarter one seeds (1)Doumbia-Gonzalez start things off against Reynolds-Watt. Remember that Doumbia is one half of last year’s championship duo (Demoliner), so he knows these courts. That first time pairing only dropped one set last year en route to the titles, so there is a map for a repeat performance with a new partner perhaps. Santiago Gonzalez in case you forget, was part of a brilliant run last year on grass with Austin Krajicek. That pair went 12-2 with titles in Stuttgart and Mallorca at the ATP level and Nottingham at the Challenger level. The key difference being that they were regular partners before arriving on grass. I think this one is tight, but I’ll take the seeds to squeeze out the victory. Opposite of them, it’s Chandrasekar-Yuzuki up against Bass-Duncan. Chandrasekar-Yuzuki have the experience edge with a 10-7 record together this season, including three finals on hard courts at this level. Bass-Duncan are two Brits who last played together on grass in 2022 at the Futures level. Both have had some decent runs this year in doubles, so it’s not out of the question that they still compete well in this matchup. I’ll still go with the experienced pair in the end.
The match of the quarter and maybe the tournament could well be the opener pitting (3)Romboli-Smith against last year’s finalists Hidalgo-Trhac. I also think the winner of this one will be the semifinalist out of this quarter. Hidalgo-Trhac will be the popular pick due to their success here last year plus two wins over Romboli-Smith with the last coming at the French Open in three sets. I still expect a battle here, but I’ll side with Hidalgo-Trhac with what I remember from them on grass last year. The match opposite this sees Bellucci-Romano battling Yunchaokete-Zhang. That’s two pairs with just one match of experience together, so it’s going to be green on green. Romano plays the most doubles out of all four and he did just win a Clay Challenger. Yunchaokete will be playing his first doubles match of the year and this will be just the fourth for Zhang. Hard to say what to expect here, especially on grass. Flip a coin and load the potential sacrifical lamb into the quarterfinals to take on Hidalgo-Trhac. It could still be a competitive quarter, but that’s my pair to get through: Hidalgo-Trhac.
TOP HALF FORECAST
I would be surprised if more than one seed made it to the semifinals in this half and I’d have to side with the top seeds having the better shot, not that Romboli-Smith may somewhat surprise me and do the trick. If you’re looking at unseeded glory in this half, obviously Hidalgo-Trhac would be the pick after making the final here last year. Chandraseka-Yuzuki is one that intrigues me in this half though. They’ve got the chemistry, so if they adapt to the surface, they could be a deep sleeper.
SEMIFINAL PIX: (1)Doumbia-Gonzalez vs Hidalgo-Trhac
BOTTOM HALF
This third quarter looks like a free-for-all with (4)Ho-Jebens as the seeds. I do think they have a decent draw to start against Brits Jones-Paris. Those two have played 33 matches together, but never on grass. This year, they’re just 4-5. I think the ATP main draw experience for Ho-Jebens helps here, albeit they have crashed out in their opener in three of the last four Challengers they took part in. I think the quicker surface should aid their cause. The survivor waits for either Hijikata-McDonald or Damm-Mochizuki. I laid out the case for both of those pairs as Unseeded Menaces this week, so you know I believe the survivor could make a run. This one may well go to a super tie break to be decided, so it feels 50/50 even with Damm-Mochizuki opening as firm underdogs around 2.20 (+120). If the Damm serve holds up and Mochizuki stays steady, they can definitely pull this one off. This is another quarter where the seeds would be lucky to emerge due to a potentially brutal quarterfinal matchup.
The last quarter looks like it has a banger-in-waiting when (2)Kirkov-Peers take on British wildcards Broom-Stevenson. I’ve already talked about my admiration for the Brits in this spot, so I am looking at them for the potential upset. Kirkov-Peers are two solid vets, but can them find their chemistry quick enough to avoid falling in round one? The winner advances to see either Riedl-Schoolkate or Escobar-Kittay. Kittay is a burgeoning doubles specialist with 34 matches under his belt this year. We last saw him in Paris alongside Rajeev Ram in a tight three set loss to Erler-Miedler in round one. He has won two Challengers titles in 2026 nd made the ATP Delray Beach final with Seggerman early in the year. He’s been adept at switching partners and finding some success, so pairing with Escobar could be in his wheelhouse. Escobar traditionally plays most of his matches on clay, but is also well-versed in partner swapping. This will be his 8th partner in 2026. It’s been a few years since he played on grass, but he did win the Ilkey Challenger back in 2023 and made the ATP Hertogenbosch final that same year. This is an intriguing pairing. Taking on Riedl-Schoolkate who are both more acclaimed in singles could be the elixir that helps this first time tandem score a win. This is Riedl’s first doubles match in almost one year. Schoolkate plays doubles a bit sparingly now, but he’s always been competitive on grass with different partners. I’d still side with Escobar and Kittay in this one.
BOTTOM HALF FORECAST
This half also lacks confidence in either seeded pair. Kirkov-Peers COULD wind up being really good, but it’s a wait and see. Unfortunately for them, there’s very little runway for them to get up to speed with a tough British pair waiting in round one. Ho-Jebens are in a tough quarter, but could definitely squeeze through if their serves hold up better on grass. I think your key outsiders here are Broom-Stevenson, Hijikata-McDonald and perhaps Escobar-Kittay if they click right away.
SEMIFINAL PIX: Hijikata-McDonald vs Escobar-Kittay
This figures to be a fascinating week with the surface switch and plenty of never-seen-before pairings vying for a title. I tend to think the top half of the draw will produce the champion. Obviously Hidalgo-Trhac will be a lively “underdog” due to their unseeded status, but they may actually be the favorites overall, right? I really think you could be half the field on a dartboard and you’d be as likely to pick the correct winner that way as you would be to sort them out from looking at the draw. Expect the unexpected?
Hildalgo-Trhac
Escobar-Kittay
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