Though the Mubadala DC Open is still days away, there is already a lot of buzz around the tournament due to the doubles pairs that have been announced. Fans are very excited to see the return of the doubles partnership between Nick Kyrgios and Frances Tiafoe. This will be the first time in five years that the two will be playing together.

Notably, the two had last played doubles at the same tournament five years ago, in 2021. Though they had gotten past the duo of Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig, they had fallen in the second round to Jannik Sinner and Sebastian Korda.

It’s not a surprise that Kyrgios and Tiafoe have formed a doubles partnership. They have been friends for a long time, maintaining a close rapport. Their playstyles also match with both of them considered to be some of the most entertaining players on the tour. Not to mention that Tiafoe had also made an appearance on Kyrgios’ Spotify podcast, “Good Trouble With Nick Kyrgios”, and had discussed their respective tennis journeys.

While fans would want their doubles pair to succeed at the DC Open, both Kyrgios and Tiafoe haven’t racked up positive results in the format this season. While the Australian has played four men’s doubles draws so far, he has only clinched two wins so far. Moreover, he also had to pull out of Mallorca due to lower back issues, but came back in Halle and won the title by defeating the American No. 1 Taylor Fritz.

On the other hand, Tiafoe has mostly been focused on singles action this year and has only participated in one doubles draw. That appearance had come at the Indian Wells Masters earlier this year. He had formed a pair with compatriot Brandon Nakashima, but the two had gotten knocked out in the first round by the German duo of Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz.

Tiafoe will also have to manage playing in two draws simultaneously, as he is likely to participate in singles as well at the DC Open. While there is no guarantee that Kyrgios will be able to maintain his fitness level by the time the DC Open arrives, the lack of match practice may affect Tiafoe’s performance.

Regardless of these glaring concerns, the fans wouldn’t want to miss two of the flashiest players on the tour playing alongside each other. There is another pair that fans would be excited about at the DC Open, and this one will be participating in the women’s doubles draw.

Venus Williams and Alexandra Eala’s doubles partnership returns at the DC Open

The duo of Venus Williams and Alexandra Eala has formed a doubles partnership for the upcoming event in the American capital. This will be the second tournament where the two will be playing doubles together this season.

They had previously played together at the Bad Homburg Open last month. They made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament by defeating Alexandra Osbourne and Catherine Harrison 6-3, 6-4 in their first match. But they weren’t able to go further in the tournament and suffered a 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalikova.

Both Eala and Venus have been pretty active in doubles this season. While the Filipino has participated in five draws, the latter has been a part of six so far. Notably, Venus has received a wildcard to compete at the tournament. Both of them will also be participating in singles and will have to manage playing two draws at the same time. This can certainly be a challenge for them.

While Eala and Venus had looked great as a pair on grass last month, it remains to be seen if they will be able to deliver similar performances on hard courts as well.