Martina Hingis (Switzerland) & Sania Mirza (India)
The No. 1 seeds here in Toronto, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won the title at Indian Wells this past March as a brand-new pairing. Holding the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the WTA rankings, the pair took the title without dropping a set and only surrendered four games the entire tournament. Since then, the pair have claimed titles at Miami, Charleston and most recently Wimbledon. Catch the pair on-court for a chance to see former singles world No. 1 Hingis, who holds 13 Slam titles – five in singles, nine in doubles, and doubles world No. 1 Mirza in action. The powerhouse pair hold more than 70 titles between them.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (United States) & Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova had never even practiced together prior to their first tournament as a team, but the new pair advanced to the final of the 2015 Australian Open where they beat Taiwan’s Yung-Jan Chan and China’s Zheng Jie 6-4, 7-6 (5). Their win was the first time a new doubles team clinched a Grand Slam title since Dinara Safina and Nathalie Dechy took the 2007 US Open title. The two later claimed the Stuttgart crown and their second Slam title at the French Open. The pair was halfway to a calendar Slam, when they fell in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. As the No. 3 seeds at Rogers Cup, they’ll be looking to make a deep run as they play Rogers Cup together for the first time.
Elena Vesnina (Russia) & Ekaterina Makarova (Russia)
They’ve played together as far back as 2008 for the Russian Fed Cup team but it wasn’t until 2012 that Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova became a regular pairing. They captured their first Grand Slam together at the 2013 French Open when they defeated former world No. 1 pair Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in straight sets. Vesnina and Makarova faced the two Italians again when they advanced into the final of the 2014 Australian Open, but lost the match in three sets. It wasn’t long before they had their chance for another major trophy though, capturing the 2014 US Open for their second Slam title, qualifying them for the WTA Championships for the second straight year. Their best result on the year for the No. 2 seeds in Toronto is an appearance in the final at the All-England Club where they fell to world No. 1 pair Hingis and Mirza.
Lots of other stellar players are competing in doubles this week as well. Keep an eye out for 2013 US Open champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic. Several top singles players are taking a crack at the doubles crown as well, including Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Carla Suarez Navarro, Sara Errani, Belinda Bencic, and Jelena Jankovic.
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