Doubles Take: The Miami Open turns up the heat

The doubles draws at the Miami Open, the first major American tournament of the year, are dwindling down and on both sides, many of the top teams didn’t make it past the second round. Only three men’s duos advanced to the quarterfinals, while just one got that far among the women.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights at the event. (Photos: Getty Images)

1

First Timers

The Canadian and Mexican duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos are making some major noise at the 1000-level event. The unseeded pair pulled off a gritty deciding set tiebreak win over No. 7 seeds Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk to begin their campaign. As the tournament progresses the team continues to up their level, most recently they defeated Americans Coco Gauff and Caty McNally to leap into the semifinals.

2

Steady as They Go

Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama are the only seeded team left among the women and given how they’ve played so far this year, the Japanese duo has to be considered the favorites for the title. Shibahara and Aoyama started off 2021 with victories in their first two tournaments then reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. In Miami, they had to rally to win their first match, then advanced by way of walkover in the second round, which should help them be fairly fresh in the days ahead.

3

More Notches in the Win Column

While they didn’t win the biggest tournament of the year to date, the Australian Open, it would be hard to argue against Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic being considered as the first-quarter MVPs. The Croatians have won three titles already this year, and beat two American duos in Miami in their first couple of matches in straight sets. The second seeds have now advanced to the quarterfinals or better in every tournament they’ve played this year.