Hanlon Walsh
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Hanlon Walsh
@hanlonwalsh.bsky.social
400 followers 64 following 320 posts
Tennis Writer (Mostly Doubles) & Media/Comms Specialist 🎾🎙️📢 https://www.thetennistribe.com/doubles-news/
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From teen prodigy to working mom, Taylor Townsend’s pro journey hasn’t been easy.
A look at her title in Washington, rise to world No. 1, and what this could mean for pro doubles.

Thanks to @benrothenberg.bsky.social
for weighing in. My story from DC:

thetennistribe.com/new-doubles-...
Can World No. 1 Taylor Townsend Take Doubles to New Heights?
A look at the rise of American Taylor Townsend as the top ranked doubles player in the world, and what this could mean for doubles
thetennistribe.com
38 year-old Sara Errani & 39 year-old Hsieh Su-Wei both competed in the same WTA Finals events in 2013 & 2014.

Eleven years later, they’re back for another WTA Finals, competing against each other for a semifinals spot today 👊🏻
No. 2 Katerina Siniakova & Taylor Townsend edge past No. 7 Timea Babos & Luisa Stefani 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 in their opening match in Riyadh.

The 2024 finalists are 29-5 on the year with the highest win percentage (85%) among the top 8 field 💯
Defending champs Gaby Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe are the longest standing doubles team at the top of the game, and the only pair to make 3 consecutive WTA Finals.

They would be the 1st team to successfully defend this title since Babos/Mladenovic in 2018-2019.

thetennistribe.com/2025-wta-fin...
2025 WTA Finals Preview: Dabrowski & Routliffe Eye Title Defense
An in-depth breakdown of the eight WTA doubles teams competing at the year-end championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
thetennistribe.com
No. 3 Gaby Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe open up their title defense with a 6-3, 7-6 win over No. 5 Mirra Andreeva & Diana Shnaider 💥

Gaby & Erin are the longest standing team in the field and the only pair to make 3 straight WTA Finals appearances together.
No. 6 Hsieh/Ostapenko outlast No. 4 Mertens/Kudermetova 1-6, 7-5, 10-5 to round out day 1 in Riyadh 🔥

Hsieh was nearly flawless in the 3rd set tiebreaker, all over the net from corner to corner. The 39-year-old is in her 6th WTA Finals appearance in the last 13 years.
No. 1 seeds Sara Errani & Jasmine Paolini come out of the gates strong with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 8 Demi Schuurs & Asia Muhammad.

Their impressive 2025 haul includes a Roland Garros trophy, 3 masters 1000 titles, and BJK Cup win for Team Italy 🇮🇹
Check out our WTA Finals doubles preview breaking down a stacked final 8 field that includes:

🏆 All 4 slam champs of 2025
💯 52 combined dubs majors
👸 7 former No. 1 players
🥇 7 Olympic medalists

Will Gaby & Erin defend their title?

thetennistribe.com/2025-wta-fin...
2025 WTA Finals Preview: Dabrowski & Routliffe Eye Title Defense
An in-depth breakdown of the eight WTA doubles teams competing at the year-end championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
thetennistribe.com
In 2025, all top 4 doubles seeds at the WTA Finals split the 4 slams, won five Masters 1000s, and made the US Open semifinals in a top 4 battle:

No. 1 Errani & Paolini (RG)
No. 2 Siniakova & Townsend (AO)
No. 3 Dabrowski & Routliffe (USO)
No. 4 Kudermetova & Mertens (Wimby)
Elise Mertens, 5x slam champ and former No. 1, has now qualified for the WTA Finals 7 years in a row with 5 different partners:

2018: Demi Schuurs
2019: Aryna Sabalenka
2021: Hsieh Su-Wei
2022: Veronika Kudermetova
2023: Storm Hunter
2024: Hsieh x 2
2025: Kudermetova x 2

Wow.
I could easily see Alexander Bublik (15th in the ATP Finals race yet still a chance to qualify) coming out of nowhere to win the Paris Masters event and grab the last spot for Turin. It would be verryyyy on brand for him.
A trio of WTA doubles veterans will make their 7th WTA Finals appearance with multiple partners:

🇨🇿 Katerina Siniakova
🇨🇦 Gaby Dabrowski
🇧🇪 Elise Mertens

Siniakova & Mertens have made 7 straight appearances while Dabrowski has qualified for 7 of the last 8, dating back to 2017.
Three big doubles wins for Americans this past week 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

1. Nicole Melichar won her 17th WTA title in Ningbo w/ Samsonova.

2. Evan King & Christian Harrison won in Brussels, holding onto the No. 8 spot in ATP Finals race.

3. Rob Galloway won his 3rd ATP title in Stockholm.
Feels like Katerina Siniakova may be conducting doubles partner auditions this fall for the 2026 season…

✅ Qualifies for WTA Finals w/ Townsend
✅ Wins Korea 500 title w/ Krejcikova
✅ Wins Wuhan 1000 title w/ Hunter
🤞🏻 Enters Ningbo as top seed w/ Hsieh
Katerina Siniakova and Hsieh Su-Wei, the two most accomplished doubles players of this generation and longtime rivals, are teaming up together this week as the top seeds in Ningbo. This should be fun 🍿
Coco said she has to bring an extra suitcase home for all of the nice gifts she has received from Chinese fans. Asia seems like a nice post-USO therapy for her to relax and regroup away from the stressors of NYC. Loves the energy here.
So do Coco and Jess go home now to rest and train for WTA Finals? No need for more tournament play with the 1000s behind us.
Safe to say the American women are having a moment in 2025. It’s got to be the best year for U.S. women’s tennis as a whole since the early-mid 2000s?

2 slam winners, 2x slam finalists, multiple 1000s titles, and 4 of the top 8 qualifying for WTA Finals. Wowww 🇺🇸
I’d love to see Kim Clijsters or Lindsay Davenport be more of a recurring guest on Served. Roddick’s guest interviews are great, but when it’s him, Wertheim and Producer Mike all talking it can turn into the bro zone.
Those are the OGs for sure! Big fan of all three. Wish NCR was more consistent with their publishing schedule because that was my #1 for a while.
This is the hard hitting story the fans need! Good soldiering🍹
Agree! I’m a big fan of those pods with hosts whose style and approach are on very different ends of the tennis spectrum. I like hearing a variety of POVs from hosts who aren’t afraid to speak their mind, regardless of their opinion.
Agreed with both of those points. Tennis Podcast and Served are my top 2 listens, but Served has been veering a bit too bro-fest for me lately on some episodes. Overall enjoy both Roddick and Wertheim’s POV on the game.
Learning about Jess Pegula’s “Big Rich” and Emma Navarro’s “Little Rich” nicknames from Chinese fans plus seeing Pegula’s reaction has been a highlight of the Asian swing so far for me 💯
I agree! They have a lot of potential but so far it feels too much like “giggly girl talk” as Pam Shriver described it.