Change of guard in doubles: Katerina Siniakova falls and a new doubles world No. 1 rises
WTAFriday, 30 January 2026 at 04:30
The change of throne in women’s doubles was confirmed following Katerina Siniakova’s defeat at the Australian Open. The Czech – partnered since 2024 with Taylor Townsend – ended up bowing out in the quarterfinals, and after failing to defend the title, Siniakova will drop in the rankings to No. 2.
As a result, there will be a new women’s doubles world No. 1: 30-year-old Elise Mertens, who will climb five positions in the rankings to move to the top, after reaching the final of the Australian Open alongside her partner, China’s Shuai Zhang.
Mertens is a champion of five Grand Slam doubles titles, two of them at the Australian Open (2021, 2024). This season, however, she was not defending many points, after falling in the second round in 2025, partnered with local player Ellen Perez.
This time, Mertens had a strong chance to add points, and her great campaign in Melbourne secured her return to the doubles No. 1 ranking – a position she first achieved in 2021, when she became the third Belgian to reach the top of the singles or doubles rankings, only behind Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.
Siniakova leaves Melbourne short of expectations
Siniakova will certainly not leave Melbourne satisfied with her results. In singles, she reached the second round, although she had a tough match against world No. 4 Amanda Anisimova. The Czech was seeking revenge in the doubles draw, where she was perhaps the main favourite, considering her experience in the category.
In women’s doubles, things were going well alongside Townsend, as the top-seeded pair and defending champions. They came through the first rounds in straight sets against Siskova/Kempen, and then the Chinese pair Yang/Xu. In the third round, they benefited from the withdrawal of the 15th-seeded duo Stollar/Kato, securing their return to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
However, this time they faced two players with extensive experience in the category, and it ended in a painful defeat, including a bagel in the third set, losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. The same pair, Krunic and Danilina, maintained their inspiration to overcome the semifinals, and will be precisely the opponents of Mertens and Zhang in the final of the tournament.
Siniakova also entered the mixed doubles alongside Sem Verbeek, but they were defeated in the quarterfinals by the French pair Mladenovic/Guinard – who finished the tournament as runners-up after falling in the final to the local duo Gadecki and Peers.
Ranking impact highlights Siniakova’s legacy as one of the greatest doubles players ever
The early defeat of Siniakova/Townsend leads them to lose more than 1,500 ranking points. While Townsend will drop from No. 2 to No. 5, Siniakova remains at No. 2 – currently around 400 points behind Mertens, although the Belgian could extend the gap if she and Zhang manage to claim the title in Saturday’s final.
Siniakova has arguably established herself as the best doubles player of the last decade – and one of the best in history – with a total of 32 doubles titles and another 19 finals reached, Olympic gold medallist in 2021 with Barbora Krejcikova, champion of 10 Grand Slam titles with three different partners, and having held the No. 1 ranking for a total of 180 weeks so far.
With this, she stands as the third player with the most weeks as doubles No. 1 in the Open Era, only behind Martina Navratilova (237) and Liezel Huber (199). She has also finished as the year-end doubles No. 1 on five occasions, tying Navratilova’s five seasons.
The new ranking leader, Mertens, has held the top spot for a total of 39 weeks in her career, between 2021 and 2025, although she has never remained No. 1 for more than 10 consecutive weeks. With a wide advantage this time over her closest pursuer, it remains to be seen whether Mertens can extend her stay at the top even further on this occasion.
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