{"id":229744,"date":"2025-10-28T08:33:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T08:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/229744\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T08:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T08:33:11","slug":"the-eight-doubles-teams-heading-to-riyadh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/229744\/","title":{"rendered":"The eight doubles teams heading to Riyadh"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year, the WTA Finals Riyadh doubles field is a balance of stability and freshness. Three of the teams in last year’s lineup have made it back for a second year running. Another four players have returned with different partners. But as well as the familiar faces, three new teams are here to shake things up — including the youngest duo to qualify for the doubles year-end finale in 25 years.<\/p>\n

Find out more below.<\/p>\n

\"Jasmine<\/p>\n

\n

Dan Istitene\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

No. 1. Sara Errani (ITA) and Jasmine Paolini (ITA)<\/p>\n

Last year, we called Olympic gold medalists Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini “one of the defining partnerships of 2024.”<\/a> Make that one of the defining partnerships of this era. In 2025, the Italian duo backed up all their achievements.<\/p>\n

In fact, Errani and Paolini almost duplicated their 2024 season. They compiled a 33-10 record heading into Riyadh, compared to 34-11 last year, with four titles each time. This year, that included a successful defense of both of their WTA 1000 trophies, at home in Rome and then in Beijing. They also added a third WTA 1000 crown in Doha.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And while their 2024 peak came with the Olympic gold medal in Paris, this year it was their first Grand Slam title together — also in Paris, where they had been runners-up in 2024. It was Errani’s first women’s doubles Slam trophy since Wimbledon 2014 — the last of her five with Roberta Vinci — and Paolini’s first.<\/p>\n

Defending last year’s achievements was something of a theme for both. They spearheaded Italy’s second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup title, too — they have yet to be beaten in the team event. Errani also paired with Andrea Vavassori to defend her US Open mixed doubles title, sweeping aside a row of singles stars in the competition’s new format. And Paolini has successfully qualified for her second straight WTA Finals in singles, too.<\/p>\n

Season snapshot:
2025 win-loss record: 33-10
2025 titles: 4 (Doha, Rome, Roland Garros, Beijing)
2025 finals: 1 (Berlin)
Doubles rankings: No. 3 (tied)
Previous WTA Finals appearances: 4 (Errani), 1 (Paolini), 1 as a team
Best WTA Finals result: Errani SF (2012, 2013 with Roberta Vinci), as a team RR (2024)<\/p>\n

\"Taylor<\/p>\n

\n

David Gray\/AFP via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

No. 2. Katerina Siniakova (CZE) and Taylor Townsend (USA)<\/p>\n

Ten-time Grand Slam champion Katerina Siniakova is one of the most accomplished active doubles player on tour, trailing only Venus Williams in career majors. The current World No. 1 has proven her ability to win with anyone — her 32 career titles have come alongside 10 different partners, including three in 2025.<\/p>\n

Taylor Townsend is building a versatile resume of her own. She’s won 11 titles with seven different partners, again including three in 2025.<\/p>\n

So it’s no surprise that together, Siniakova and Townsend are so formidable. They began the year with a 12-match winning streak encompassing their second Grand Slam crown together at the Australian Open. Though they played only seven tournaments as a team this season, they only lost before the semifinals once, made at least the quarterfinals of every major and added a second Slam final to their record at the US Open.<\/p>\n

Season snapshot:
2025 win-loss record: 27-5
2025 titles: 2 (Australian Open, Dubai)
2025 finals: 1 (US Open)
Doubles rankings: No. 1 (Siniakova), No. 2 (Townsend)
Previous WTA Finals appearances: 6 (Siniakova), 1 (Townsend), 1 as a team
Best WTA Finals result: Siniakova W (2022 with Barbora Krejcikova), as a team F (2024)<\/p>\n

\"Erin<\/p>\n

\n

Susan Mullane\/ISI Photos\/ISI Photos via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

No. 3. Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) and Erin Routliffe (NZL)<\/p>\n

As Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe celebrated their victory at last year\u2019s WTA Finals, only their closest circle understood just how remarkable the journey had been. On New Year’s Eve, Dabrowski revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in April of 2024.<\/p>\n

Dabrowski spent two months off court as she underwent treatment, and she has since said that the experience “shook me to my core of what it meant to be alive.”<\/a> Despite that, within weeks of her return she had reached the Wimbledon final with Routliffe and won a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the Paris Olympic Games with Felix Auger-Aliassime.<\/p>\n

Both Dabrowski and Routliffe have also battled rib injuries since winning the WTA Finals, forcing Dabrowski out of Roland Garros this year. But they’ve still put together a strong year, in particular a North American hard-court swing that saw them win Cincinnati before reclaiming the US Open trophy that they’d previously captured in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A title run in Stuttgart was their first on clay together, and it completed their career surface sweep of silverware. A semifinal run at the Australian Open and a quarterfinal showing at Wimbledon also anchored their Grand Slam season.<\/p>\n

Season snapshot:
2025 win-loss record: 27-13
2025 titles: 3 (Stuttgart, Cincinnati, US Open)
2025 finals: 0
Doubles rankings: No. 5 (Routliffe), No. 9 (Dabrowski)
Previous WTA Finals appearances: 6 (Dabrowski), 2 (Routliffe), 2 as a team
Best WTA Finals result: W (2024 with each other)<\/p>\n

\"Elise<\/p>\n

\n

Adam Davy\/PA Images via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

No. 4. Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens (BEL)<\/p>\n

Sometimes a step back is what clears the path forward. Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens played the 2022 season alongside each other and finished on a high with the WTA Finals Fort Worth title. But then they went their separate ways — for the next two years.<\/p>\n

They didn’t start 2025 intending to join forces again. Kudermetova continued her collaboration with Chan Hao-Ching, with whom she’d made last year’s WTA Finals. Mertens kicked the year off alongside Ellen Perez. But those partnerships resulted in strings of early losses — and come the clay season, it was time to press rewind.<\/p>\n

Kudermetova and Mertens picked up where they’d left off, immediately making back-to-back WTA 1000 finals in Madrid and Rome. But it was at Wimbledon where it all came together with a brilliant run to the title — Kudermetova’s first Grand Slam crown, and Mertens’ fifth with a third different partner.<\/p>\n

The band is back together again — and could the WTA Finals be the site to reprise one of their greatest hits?<\/p>\n

Season snapshot:
2025 win-loss record: 25-7
2025 titles: 1 (Wimbledon)
2025 finals: 2 (Madrid, Rome)
Doubles rankings: No. 7 (Mertens), No. 10 (Kudermetova)
Previous WTA Finals appearances: 6 (Mertens), 2 (Kudermetova), 1 as a team
Best WTA Finals result: W (2022 with each other)<\/p>\n

\"Diana<\/p>\n

\n

Chris Arjoon\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

No. 5. Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider<\/p>\n

At just 17 and 20 years old and teaming up for the first time, Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider made a breakout run to the silver medal at the Paris Olympics last year.<\/p>\n

No points were on offer, and they teamed up just once more in 2024 — but the experience was enough for both of them to commit to a full season together this year. And it’s paid off handsomely. Andreeva and Shnaider started the year with an eight-match winning streak, winning the Brisbane title and making the Australian Open semifinals. They claimed their first WTA 1000 crown in Miami and added a second major semifinal run at Roland Garros.<\/p>\n

Shnaider’s excellence in the doubles discipline was foreshadowed in her junior career, where she captured three girls’ doubles major titles with three different partners. The women’s doubles game has traditionally been the preserve of more experienced players — but Andreeva, 18, and Shnaider, 21, have shaken that up this year. They’re the youngest team in terms of combined age to qualify for the WTA Finals since a 20-year-old Martina Hingis and 19-year-old Anna Kournikova in 2000.<\/p>\n

Season snapshot:
2025 win-loss record: 29-12
2025 titles: 2 (Brisbane, Miami)
2025 finals: 0
Doubles rankings: No. 11 (Shnaider), No. 12 (Andreeva)
Previous WTA Finals appearances: 0
Best WTA Finals result: n\/a<\/p>\n

\"Hsieh<\/p>\n

\n

Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

No. 6. Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) and Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)<\/p>\n

When rumors first began to circulate that Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko were planning to team up in 2025, many fans’ first reaction was skepticism. Surely the idea of two of the most extreme styles on tour — and unique personalities — was too good to be true?<\/p>\n

It turns out that even in 2025, we can have nice things. Hsieh’s game is based on taking all the power out of the game with her finesse, while Ostapenko’s approach is to dial the power up to the max and beyond — and the unlikely pairing was enough to get them to the Australian Open final off the bat.<\/p>\n

Nice things, to an extent. Another two finals followed, including one at Wimbledon, but a first title for the pair has been elusive. (Ostapenko has, however, managed to win Abu Dhabi with Ellen Perez and Charleston with Erin Routliffe.) Since Wimbledon, they’ve gone their separate ways at every tournament except Beijing. Can they recapture the magic in Riyadh?<\/p>\n

Season snapshot:
2025 win-loss record: 21-9
2025 titles: 0
2025 finals: 3 (Australian Open, Dubai, Wimbledon)
Doubles rankings: No. 6 (Ostapenko), No. 8 (Hsieh)
Previous WTA Finals appearances: 5 (Hsieh), 2 (Ostapenko), 0 as a team
Best WTA Finals result: Hsieh W (2013 with Peng Shuai), Ostapenko SF (2022 with Lyudmyla Kichenok)<\/p>\n

\"Luisa<\/p>\n

\n

Jimmie48\/WTA\n <\/p>\n

No. 7. Timea Babos (HUN) and Luisa Stefani (BRA)<\/p>\n

In the 2010s, Timea Babos was a WTA Finals staple. The Hungarian qualified for the year-end finale five times in a row between 2015 and 2019, winning it three times back-to-back with two different partners. But after capturing her fourth Grand Slam doubles crown at Roland Garros 2020, a four-year title drought followed.<\/p>\n

This year, Babos is back in a big way. She played the first quarter of 2025 alongside Nicole Melichar-Martinez without reaching a final — apart from Linz, where she took the title with Luisa Stefani. That’s the collaboration that’s paid dividends. They reunited in Miami, and have racked up three more titles and two Grand Slam quarterfinal finishes.<\/p>\n

Prior to 2025, Stefani was a nine-time WTA titlist, including three at WTA 1000 level. But this is the first time she’s found the consistent partnership necessary for a WTA Finals spot. She becomes the second Brazilian to qualify for the tournament, following Beatriz Haddad Maia in the 2022 doubles event.<\/p>\n

Season snapshot:
2025 win-loss record: 37-15
2025 titles: 4 (Linz, Strasbourg, Sao Paulo, Tokyo)
2025 finals: 1 (Ningbo)
Doubles rankings: No. 15 (Babos), No. 16 (Stefani)
Previous WTA Finals appearances: 5 (Babos), 0 (Stefani), 0 as a team
Best WTA Finals result: Babos W (2017 with Andrea Sestini Hlavackova, 2018 and 2019 with Kristina Mladenovic)<\/p>\n

\"Demi<\/p>\n

\n

Jimmie48\/WTA\n <\/p>\n

No. 8. Asia Muhammad (USA) and Demi Schuurs (NED)<\/p>\n

Much like Stefani, Asia Muhammad has been a regular tour winner on the doubles circuit over the past decade. The American won her first WTA doubles trophy at ‘s-Hertogenbosch 2015 and had tallied 11 by the start of this year.<\/p>\n

But her first WTA Finals appearance comes courtesy consistent, year-round teamwork with Demi Schuurs. Their high points came with titles at Indian Wells — Schuurs’ sixth WTA 1000 trophy and Muhammad’s second — and Queen’s.<\/p>\n

Schuurs, meanwhile, is also proving her versatility. The Dutchwoman has qualified for her sixth straight WTA Finals with her fifth different partner.<\/p>\n

Season snapshot:
2025 win-loss record: 25-20
2025 titles: 2 (Indian Wells, Queen’s)
2025 finals: 0
Doubles rankings: No. 19 (Muhammad), No. 22 (Schuurs)
Previous WTA Finals appearances: 0 (Muhammad), 5 (Schuurs), 0 as a team
Best WTA Finals result: Schuurs SF (2019 with Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 2021 with Nicole Melichar-Martinez, 2022 with Desirae Krawczyk)<\/p>\n

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