Double titles to start the year! Chinese tennis kicks off 2026 with a strong start

All champions for the second week of the 2026 season have been decided. The highly anticipated WTA500 Adelaide women's doubles final featured Zhang Shuai/Siniakova against Kichenok/Kravchuk. Ultimately, the Zhang pair won in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, securing the title. This marks the second consecutive year that Chinese players have won the doubles crown at this event (the 2025 women's doubles champions were Guo Hanyu/Panova).

Currently, Zhang Shuai’s doubles live ranking has risen to 15th. Chinese players have already claimed two doubles titles in the warm-up tournaments of this new season, making it a very promising start.

In a recent interview, Zhang Shuai mentioned that she celebrates her birthday every year during the Australian Open. In a few days, on January 21, she will turn 37. This age is often considered retirement age for most professional athletes, but Zhang said she still has many dreams and goals, such as winning a Grand Slam women’s doubles title and even a Grand Slam mixed doubles title, which she has yet to achieve.

“It’s truly incredible that I’ve competed on the tour for such an intense decade (2016–2025), and it’s been a very high-quality ten years because most players’ peak periods only last two or three years. Of course, some players stay longer, but it seems no one has lasted as long as I have.”

“For example, many players like Muguruza, Halep, and Garcia are much younger than me, and many of them have already retired. Yet here I am, still competing and able to return to the top 100 in singles. I am very proud of all my hard work!”

At the upcoming Australian Open, Zhang Shuai will compete in three events. Besides the early-released singles draw, the latest doubles draw is also out. Zhang will team up with her longtime partner Mertens as the tournament’s 4th seeds. Their first-round opponents are the reigning Madrid 1000 women’s doubles champions — Kostyia/Kalinskaya.

Although the latter pair are unseeded, winning a WTA1000 level event is a sign of great skill. Other doubles matches involving Chinese players include:

[14] Jiang Xinyu/Zhan Haoqing vs Blinkova/Rakhimova

[16] Guo Hanyu/Meladzevski vs Parks/Yastremska

Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan vs Valentova/Vondrousova

Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai vs Cabrera/Preston

Tang Qianhui/Ramsden vs [2] Errani/Paolini

Additionally, the last remaining men’s doubles pair, Zhang Zhizhen and Shang Juncheng, will face the 2024 Paris Olympic silver medalists Ibdah/Lamm in the first round. We look forward to all Chinese players delivering outstanding performances!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)