QUEEN’S CLUB NEWS & NOTES
*Last year’s new “Grass Gods” are back looking for the repeat. Cash-Glasspool took home the Queen’s Club titles in 2025 with a 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-5 victory over Mektic-Venus. The British champs were seeded fourth last year and set as 1.62 (-161) favorites in the title match. Their title run marked the fifth straight for a seeded pair in London.
*The super tie break finish in the Championship match marked the fourth straight year in London that the titles needed the extra frame to settle. Overall in 2025, there were eight matches that ended in a super tie break out of 15. Four of those came in round one with two more in the quarters and then one in the semis and then the final itself. That was a big bump up from just four STB finishes in 2024. That was the outlier with four of the last five runs at Queen’s Club seeing at least seven super tie break finishes.
*Even though seeds have taken the titles consistently of late, unseeded pairs have put themselves into position to have a shot. Last year, two of the four semifinalists were unseeded with the runners-up being an unseeded pair. There has been at least one unseeded duo in the semifinals each year since 2016 with the exception of the stupid year of 2024 where they decided to seed eight pairs. Yes, half the field as if that made any sense.
*French Open runners-up Heliovaara-Patten lead the charge in London as the top seeds with defending champs Cash-Glasspool seeded second. Harrison-Skupski and Arevalo-Pavic round out to the seeded field. Cash-Glasspool will hope to turn the tables on a mediocre season with the surface switch. The Brits are 17-12 in 2026. Last year, they won 17 matches on grass alone, going 17-1 with titles at Queen’s Club, Eastbourne and Wimbledon. Heliovaara-Patten lost to Cash-Glasspool in last year’s QC semis and have generally been a force on grass at 14-4 over two seasons.
*The biggest story of the week though is the return of a four-time Grand Slam champion pairing in Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury! The timing couldn’t be better for Ram who has had a miserable 2026, mixing and matching partners to the tune of 2-8. Salisbury returned for the clay swing after choosing to step away from tennis last year for a mental break. His partnership with Cabral yielded a 2-6 record, so both players are looking to jump start their season with this reunion. 2024 was the last time we saw these two team up, but they have plenty of experience on these courts. This will be their 6th time playing Queen’s Club. A 2019 finals run has been their best result. It might be a bit much to expect an immediate impact, but this should be a good step forward as they will be pairing up through at least Wimbledon before deciding on what’s next.
With the success of unseeded pairs in London, it pays to focus on the unseeded field in London this week. Five of the last six runs at Queen’s Club have seen an unseeded finalist. Here’s the pairs to watch:
Andreozzi-Guinard
They’ll be boom or bust with Heliovaara-Patten on tap first, but they have proven tough against that pair in the past. More on that below. The big question likely is what is their fitness level at? They withdrew from their last two scheduled matches in Hamburg and the French Open. This is also their first time on grass together, so it will be interesting to see what they can do.
Krajicek-Mektic
Perhaps grass is the surface where this pair really starts to click. They’re sitting at .500 together this season, but Mektic comes in with some grass prep after making the semifinals in Stuttgart with Cabral. Krajicek paired with Santiago Gonzalez last year during this swing and went 12-1. He’s also a former champion at Queen’s Club back in 2023 when he was paired with Ivan Dodig. Something tells me this pair could do some damage sooner or later on grass.
Bhambri-Venus
They got their first grass court match done in Hertogenbosch, losing 14-12 in a super tie break to singles pairing Diallo-Hurkacz. Both have seen their fair share of good results on grass with Venus making the final here a year ago and winning with Skupski in 2024. Bhambri made the final in Mallorca last year on grass with Galloway, so this team has the potential to be a bracket buster. They’re in a tough quarter, but one that looks like it will twist on some super tie breaks and tight sets.
ONE AND DONE WATCH
Seeds did not emerge unscathed in round one a year ago with the three seeds (Salisbury-Skupski) falling. Here’s a look at the match-ups that have some potential to see a seeded upset in 2026.
(1)Heliovaara-Patten
It’s a tough ask with Heliovaara-Patten up first, but Andreozzi-Guinard are almost always a dangerous duo that has played the top seeds tough every time they’ve met. This will mark their fourth career battle with Heliovaara-Patten needing a super tie break to beat them earlier this year in Madrid after Andreozzi-Guinard beat them last year in Shanghai and lost 7-6, 7-6 to them in Beijing.
(3)Harrison-Skupski
The Australian Open champs are likely happy to see the clay swing go after going just 6-6 with a Rome semifinal as their best result. They may not be excited about seeing Krajicek-Mektic in round one. That pair is only 13-13, but they’ve been highly competitive. The good news for Harrison-Skupski is they’ve only lost an opener twice in 12 tournaments played. Still, the surface switch and a pair of vets who have both had some great moments on grass, will be an iffy proposition to start.
DRAW PREVIEW
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TOP HALF
This first quarter has some good teams in it, but none are at the consistency level of the top seeds Heliovaara-Patten. Still, that doesn’t mean the top seeds are a sure thing to push through to the semifinals. The opener against Andreozzi-Guinard has some upset potential with the unseeded pair playing them tough each of the three times they’ve met. The match opposite of this features Nys/Roger-Vasselin battling Brits Stevenson-Willis who took the wildcard entry. Don’t sleep on the Brits. They won the Ilkey Challenger on grass already and will look to parlay that momentum into a win in London. Is it deja-vu all over again? They beat Nys/Roger-Vasselin here to start in 2025 and then lost in a super tie break to Heliovaara-Patten. That’s the most likely path for them again if they escape round one. Heliovaara-Patten haven’t left as much to chance this year with an astounding 27 of their wins going down in straight sets. That’s a good formula for success. Don’t see too many super tie breaks.
The second quarter starts with an intriguing match-up between (3)Harrison-Skupski and Krajicek-Mektic. The three seeds have not been on the same level since winning in Melbourne. Skupski in particular has always been a force on grass, notably at Wimbledon, no matter the partner. That said, his Queen’s Club openers have been an adventure. He’s 4-3 in round one play at QC over the last seven runs with only one of those NOT going to a super tie break. You can almost bank on this opener doing just that and it’s certainly about a 50-50 call for me. The survivor will have the inside track on making the final four with the other match here pitting Johnson-Zielinski against Lehecka-Mensik. Johnson-Zielinski pair for the first time since Madrid, while Lehecka-Mensik sports a 6-3 record in limited doubles play together, including a win over Heliovaara-Patten last Summer on hard courts. Lehecka also made the semis here in 2023 with Taylor Fritz. Expect them to be a tough out.
TOP HALF FORECAST
It’s hard to go against the success of Heliovaara-Patten this year, but this half has some dangerous unseeded duos. Andreozzi-Guinard are the X-factors for me. They have the ability to beat anyone in this draw, but being the first time on grass together and perhaps having some fitness issues, makes them an outlier for me. I’d look more to pairs like Stevenson-Willis or Krajicek-Mektic as the more dangeous unseeded pairs. With Harrison-Skupski being a little bit sketchy in the way of deep runs since January, I’ll go against them at my own peril.
SEMIFINAL PIX: (1)Heliovaara-Patten vs Lehecka-Mensik
BOTTOM HALF
All eyes will be on the round one clash between (4)Arevalo-Pavic and Ram-Salisbury. It’s a tough spot for a return match against a pair that has only lost their opener twice in 2026. That said, vibes can do a lot to change that sort of thing, but will the vibes be rolling early for Ram-Salisbury? I certainly expect a lot of smiles, but smiles aren’t wins. These two faced off just once and that came back in 2024 on clay in Rome where Arevalo-Pavic emerged victorious 6-4, 6-4. Ram-Salisbury did struggle on grass during the final two years of their partnership before the 2024 split, going 5-6 in 2023 and 2024. Opposite of that match is Bhambri-Venus battling singles pairing de Minaur-Norrie. The singles pair played their first match together in four years in Monte-Carlo, ending with a super tie break loss. They’re still competitive with a semifinal run here back in 2021 as their best result. Bhambri-Venus may be just 9-9 this year, but they’re rarely out of matches with six of their nine losses coming in super tie breaks. This could be a real good one early on if de Minaur-Norrie bring their best. Arevalo-Pavic lost in the quarters last year to a pair with Michael Venus (Mektic), could a repeat be in order?
The final quarter sees the defending champs Cash-Glasspool seeking the first repeat in London since Herbert-Mahut in 2015 and 2016. They couldn’t ask for a better early draw with Cerundolo-Nakashima waiting in round one. It’s their first time partnering together. Nakashima does have some good results this year in doubles and has shown a competitive streak, so it’s not set in stone that the Brits turn up for an easy win. Still, it’s one they will be bitterly disappointed to lose. The other match isn’t set just yet with one qualifying match left to be decided. That will pit Goransson-King against Frantzen-Haase. The winner will battle singles pairing Davidovich Fokina-Rinderknech. Whomever advances will likely be favored. For me, this is a quarter that Cash-Glasspool absolutely have to win. Their season may be mostly middling this year, but grass was so good to them in 2025 that anything short of a semifinal with this set-up will be a red flag for the rest of the swing.
BOTTOM HALF FORECAST
Cash-Glasspool have not fared well this year in the few chances they’ve had against the top tier pairs. That’s something that did not plague them in 2025. Arevalo-Pavic went 1-1 against them last year with the Brits winning on clay and Arevalo-Pavic taking a match on hard courts in Miami. That’s a probable semifinal, but certainly not one that won’t have some challenges to stay on course. Cash-Glasspool have the better path, but also perhaps a bit more of a crisis in confidence. Arevalo-Pavic have been steady in 2026, just not spectacular. I’d watch for that Bhambri-Venus/de Minaur-Norrie winner to be a potential thorn in the side.
SEMIFINAL PIX: (4)Arevalo-Pavic vs (2)Cash-Glasspool
It’s the first grass court tournament for the seeds hitting London this week, so there’s a chance to set a tone for the next few weeks leading to Wimbledon. Cash-Glasspool were the ones who did just that in 2025, but it’s still hard to fully back them with what they’ve shown in 2026. I do like their draw though, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the mix for the titles. Heliovaara-Patten have shown amazing consistency with six finals in ten tournaments played, so I’ll side with that and put them atop my list this week. I’m also taking a crack outside the box on that same side with the Lehecka-Mensik pairing as my dark horse pick. There’s always a risk taking singles players who are doing double duty, but on grass, they could be a force or at worst, a very tricky out. It should be a fun week and a nice site to see Ram and Salisbury back together again.
Heliovaara-Patten
Lehecka-Mensik
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