Defending ladies’ doubles champions Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend begin as the top seeds. The duo have not played together much so far this year, due in part to injuries suffered by Townsend, including a concussion sustained during their quarter-final at the Miami Open in March. A difference in singles rankings between the players is also a factor, as it means they don’t often play in the same tournaments outside the Grand Slams.
But, when they do get together, they are the team to beat. The right-handed Czech
and her lefty partner won the Australian Open this year for their second Slam title
together, and reached the last eight at Roland-Garros.
Their main rivals are No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, who beat Siniakova and Townsend at the WTA Finals in November last year. That win in Saudi Arabia was remarkable given Dabrowski’s own off-court issues.
Seven months before that victory in Riyadh, Dabrowski was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent treatment, spent a little over two months out of action, then returned to play at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games where she took the mixed doubles bronze medal alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Earlier this season, Dabrowski and Routliffe, a New Zealander, won the clay court
title in Stuttgart. The 30-year-old from Auckland also tasted victory with Jelena Ostapenko on the clay at Charleston.
Ostapenko is herself half of a pair which could bother the top two duos.
She is seeded at No.4 alongside the always-mesmerising Su-Wei Hsieh, who once played a series of points on the singles court with a broken racket string. Her unusual style of not giving opponents any pace to work with is in stark contrast to that of her partner, who is one of the biggest hitters on tour.
Latvian Ostapenko, who is 28, and the 39-year-old from Chinese Taipei reached the Australian Open final together this year, beating Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semi-finals.
Sandwiched between the No.2 and No.4 seeds are Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. Having wound down and now finally retired from singles, Errani has morphed into one of the best-ever doubles players. Her partnership with Paolini has been extraordinary.
The Italians enjoyed back-to-back victories on the clay in Rome and at Roland-Garros this year, and have won 20 of their 26 matches so far. They also won the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, beating the tough youngsters Diana Shnaider, who is 21, and Mirra Andreeva, 18, in the final. Shnaider/Andreeva are the No.5 seeds here.
In the gentlemen’s doubles, El Salvador’s finest, Marcelo Arevalo, and his Croatian teammate, Mate Pavic, are the top seeds. Roland-Garros champions last year, they could meet Australia’s Olympic champions Matthew Ebden and John Peers for a place in the quarter-finals here.
Italian duo Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli, the No.7 seeds, are also in the top half of the draw. Like the top seeds, they have won three titles in 2025.
In the bottom half of the draw lie the newly crowned Roland-Garros champions Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, the No.4 seeds who will be full of confidence having finally clinched a Grand Slam title in their fourth final together at the top level.
They battled past Wimbledon No.6 seeds Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 6-0, 6-7(5), 7-5 in Paris.
The British duo are also in a stacked bottom half, which features defending Wimbledon champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten (main picture), the No.2 seeds. The British/Finnish combination have won two Grand Slam doubles titles in the past 12 months, also capturing the Australian Open in January.