Indian Wells: China’s Zhang Shuai and Zheng Saisai face tough doubles draws
- China No 1 Zhang Shuai and India’s Sania Mirza face third seeds Shuka Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan
- Zheng Saisai and Britain’s Heather Watson handed fourth seeds Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk as Race to WTA Finals heats up
China No 1 Zhang Shuai and her partner Sania Mirza face a tough test in the women’s doubles at Indian Wells after being drawn against third seeds Shuka Aoyama and Ena Shibahara in the first round.
The Japanese duo have already qualified for the WTA Finals in Mexico next month, as have the Czech top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
Only the top eight doubles duos will be invited to Guadalajara, with Zhang in the mix after winning the US Open with Australia’s Samantha Stosur. The duo sit in fourth place on the standings going into Indian Wells.
Zhang has partnered India’s Mirza since the US Open, with the pair winning the Ostrava Open in the Czech Republic last month.
Zheng Saisai, China’s only other player in IndianWells and Britain’s Heather Watson will play fourth seeds Alexa Guarachi of Chile and Desirae Krawczyk of the US.
Guarachi and Krawczyk are seventh of the top eight pairs but could leap up the standings with a solid performance in California.
Winning the WTA 1000 event in California offers 1,000 points in the Race to the Finals standings.
Second seeds Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Elise Mertens of Belgium – fifth on the Race to the Finals standings – face the wild card duo of Amanda Anisimova and Dayana Yastremska.
Hsieh and Mertens are only 19 points behind Zhang and Stosur going into the tournament.
Indian Wells, often referred to as the “fifth slam”, returns this week after a two-and-a-half-year absence.
Krejcikova and Siniakova finished runners up at the last Indian Wells back in 2019 with Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka winning the title.
The women’s singles begins on Wednesday in California with the doubles to follow. Zhang could face US Open singles champion Emma Raducanu for a third time this year if they both progress to the third round.
