No.1 ranking on the line in fierce US Open doubles event
NEW YORK, NY, USA -- The US Open women's doubles event kicked off on Wednesday, as the World No.1 ranking is up for grabs depending upon the results at the year's final Grand Slam event in New York City.
Hungary's Timea Babos has held the World No.1 doubles ranking on the WTA for seven of the last eight weeks. If Babos reaches the US Open final, she will secure the No.1 ranking regardless of any other result.
If Babos falls earlier, though, deep runs by Russian Ekaterina Makarova or Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic means that one of them could overtake Babos at the head of the class following the US Open.
With Martina Hingis retiring at the end of last year, a different team will hoist the championship trophy which Hingis and Latisha Chan claimed in 2017. At the top of the list is the top-seeded team of Siniakova and her compatriot Barbora Krejcikova.
Krejcikova and Siniakova have already become the premier doubles team at Grand Slams in 2018, having collected the titles at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The No.1 seeds already kicked off their campaign for a third straight major title with aplomb, surviving a tough opening set before beating Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, 7-6(4), 6-1.
Babos and her French partner Kristina Mladenovic occupy the No.2-seeded spot, as they try to sweep the 2018 hardcourt Slams after claiming the Australian Open title this winter. Babos and Mladenovic also have already reached the second round, overcoming the all-Belgian team of Kirsten Flipkens and Alison van Uytvanck, 6-4, 7-5.
Czechs Andrea Sestini Hlavackova and Barbora Strycova are the No.3 seeds, and they will open against Americans Allie Kiick and Jamie Loeb. Seeded No.4 are the tandem of Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Xu Yifan of China, who will start against Lara Arruabarrena of Spain and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic.
Makarova will attempt to reclaim the No.1 ranking by working alongside Czech Lucie Hradecka; they are seeded 6th and will open versus Kaitlyn Christian of the United States and Rebecca Peterson of Switzerland. And Chan still has a chance to defend her title: she is entered with Victoria Azarenka, and they will play Ana Bogdan and Yulia Putintseva in the first round.
One major upset already occurred on Wednesday, as No.8 seeds and Wimbledon finalists Nicole Melichar of the United States and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic lost to Americans Jennifer Brady and Asia Muhammad, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5.
US Open Women's Doubles Seeds
1. Barbora KREJCIKOVA (CZE) / Katerina SINIAKOVA (CZE)
2. Timea BABOS (HUN) / Kristina MLADENOVIC (FRA)
3. Andrea SESTINI HLAVACKOVA (CZE) / Barbora STRYCOVA (CZE)
4. Gabriela DABROWSKI (CAN) / XU Yifan (CHN)
5. Andreja KLEPAC (SLO) / María José MARTINEZ SANCHEZ (ESP)
6. Lucie HRADECKA (CZE) / Ekaterina MAKAROVA (RUS)
7. Elise MERTENS (BEL) / Demi SCHUURS (NED)
8. Nicole MELICHAR (USA) / Kveta PESCHKE (CZE)
9. Kiki BERTENS (NED) / Johanna LARSSON (SWE)
10. CHAN Hao-ching (TPE) / YANG Zhaoxuan (CHN)
11. Vania KING (USA) / Katarina SREBOTNIK (SLO)
12. Alicja ROSOLSKA (POL) / Abigail SPEARS (USA)
13. Ashleigh BARTY (AUS) / CoCo VANDEWEGHE (USA)
14. Raquel ATAWO (USA) / Anna-Lena GROENEFELD (GER)
15. Irina-Camelia BEGU (ROU) / Monica NICULESCU (ROU)
16. Miyu KATO (JPN) / Makoto NINOMIYA (JPN)