As Storm Hunter continues her promising recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon, the Australian has been keeping a keen eye on the action at Australian Open 2025 in her commentary role.
MORE: All the results from AO 2025
Hunter, a former doubles world No.1 who won the 2022 US Open mixed title with John Peers and reached the 2023 Wimbledon women’s final with Elise Mertens, joined ausopen.com to discuss the doubles action, which began on Tuesday at Melbourne Park.
ausopen.com What do you make of all the new doubles combinations? Who are you most excited to see compete together?
Hunter: “On the women's side, I'm really excited to see Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider. They won the silver medal at the Olympics last year and won Brisbane last week, and I think they're both just two young, exciting players.
"Diana a talented lefty, can do a lot of things on the court. And we know how good Andreeva's been and the quality of a player she is. And I feel they're definitely the next up-and-coming pair, that's for sure.
"The other two on the women's side that stand out for me are Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko; that is just a combination that everyone's excited to see. We know how good Su-Wei is and her hands and experience, and her personality is so different, she's definitely one-of-a-kind. And so is Ostapenko, to be honest. Very excited to see how their games match up.
"Also, can't go past Ellen Perez and Elise Mertens; obviously I played a lot with Elise, we had a really good year in 2023 and to see Ellen keep progressing ... it will be nice to see the change for her [after two seasons with Nicole Melichar-Martinez]. I think for Ellen it's great she's playing with a Grand Slam champion [in Mertens].
"On the men's side, excited to see John Peers and Jamie Murray back together. They played together years ago, played really well, had a break and now they're back. They did really well in the back end of 2024.
"And also [defending AO champion] Matt Ebden with a new partner in Joran Vliegen, excited to see what they can do."
If Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini beat Priscilla Hon and Daria Saville, we get a Paris 2024 gold-medal rematch with Andreeva and Shnaider. Who wins?
"Wouldn't that be a treat, if we got to have that rematch? Both are incredible teams, and both very different teams. I'm sure Andreeva and Shnaider would absolutely love revenge.
"I do think the hard courts probably suit them a little bit better, they're able to get the ball through faster, whereas Errani and Paolini we know love the clay, they love time to be able to lob and do their thing on clay.
"At the same time, I would love to see Pri and Dasha get the win. But definitely a tough ask."
Hon and Saville are one of 13 all-Aussie teams who began in the men's and women's doubles tournament. You'd know them all well – which are the great combos?
"It's so great to see the all-Aussie teams, we absolutely love our doubles here in Australia. We have two Grand Slam champion teams in Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler, and Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios.
"Obviously Rinky and Kubes have a very tough match against the No.1 seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic, but we know they love to light up here in Melbourne. Same as the Special Ks.
"And no doubt the crowd is definitely gonna be rowdy for all those matches.
"We also had good results [on Wednesday] with two other Australian teams; Marc Polmans and Matt Romios winning in the third, and Tristan Schoolkate and Adam Walton. Super impressive playing.
"I think just having the confidence to play at home really helps them, and what a place to be able to play, at the Australian Open in front of the home crowd.
"On the women's side I'm really excited to watch Kim Birrell and Olivia Gadecki – I think it's a free swing for them [after tough singles losses]. They're both such quality players and can do really well in singles and doubles.
"Jaimee Fourlis and Petra Hule won the 125K title in Canberra, and Jaimee's made the final of the mixed doubles here so she's a quality doubles player. But they have a tough ask in playing Mertens and Perez."
So much attention is paid to the singles at Grand Slam tournaments. What does doubles offer as a fan experience that you'd love them to know, to generate more exposure and interest?
"I think the main thing is not just seeing players on their own on the court, but the way they interact with each other as a team, and how they figure out different game plans and formations.
"It's generally a lot faster than singles, so you'll see a lot of players standing closer to the net, having epic points and reflex rallies, and using different angles and parts of the court that you don't get to see on the singles court.
"I think it's really fun and dynamic, and the momentum can change at any time, so it’s really cool – you can't take your eyes off it.
"I think a lot of social players actually play doubles because they like to play in a team... they can also relate to the doubles players and learn a lot tactically.
"You watch the singles players and admire them for how well they move, strike the ball and compete for four or five hours, but in doubles, you can actually learn something about the game, look at the high percentages, what a social player can do in their tennis to actually win matches and try something different."
You've done very well at the AO in the past here, and at Grand Slam events elsewhere. What does it take to succeed in doubles at a major, compared to other tournaments?
"I guess the main difference is that doubles at Grand Slams, we play the third set out [as opposed to a match tiebreak in lieu of a third set]. It's also long advantages when it gets to deuce [instead of sudden death deuce, at WTA events].
"I feel like in the shorter format of WTA events, anyone can kinda win – you just need to win a set, and then super tiebreak anything can happen; all it takes is one point or let cord and the momentum can change significantly. And it does favour the server, with the short deuce.
"Whereas in Grand Slams, you really have the opportunity to build the pressure, and I do find that in Grand Slams, generally the better teams do win, because they've been able to build a lot of sustained pressure over a longer period of time.
"It's a battle, because you can get to deuce, but you've still got to play out the advantage. It definitely takes a lot more resilience and the ability to withstand the pressure."
Does a team of two singles superstars beat a pair of incredible doubles specialists? Or vice versa?
"I think that's a really tough question, because it really depends. Two singles players can obviously hit, incredible ball-striking and groundstrokes, great serving, great returning.
"So, if you're a doubles specialist and you know that you're playing incredible singles players, you know they're going to do those things really well, and you have to think about how you can make the court seem smaller to them, and do some formations to make them have to think about it.
"I do also favour, at times, the doubles specialists, because they have the ability to know tactically how to make the court look small to a singles player and really reduce the areas that they can hit into. And also, just quality volleys at net; they know, probably positionally, where to play.
"So yeah, very tough question. Because at times we have seen the singles superstars just completely outplay the doubles specialist, and then we've seen the doubles specialists compete really well and beat the singles players. So it very much depends on the match-up."
And finally, mixed doubles starts on Thursday. Which pairs stand out for you in this draw?
"Love the mixed doubles! Just looking at the draw now, and there's some really good teams and match-ups.
"The first one that stands out for me is actually Luke and Dasha Saville, we know that Luke is retiring after this Australian Open, so amazing for them to go out there and have that opportunity to play together, which they've done here before. They haven't divorced after the match (laughter) so that's good news.
"But yeah, what a moment for Luke to be able to finish his career here at the Australian Open and alongside his wife on court. So that will be very special for them, and hopefully they get a few matches and a few wins.
"Also just want to see the sibling pair of Emerson and Hayden Jones – that will be very exciting. But they have a tough ask, because they've got to play the defending champions in Su-Wei and Jan Zielinski. And like we know, Su-Wei is an absolute legend and no-one really enjoys playing her; she makes life incredibly difficult. That's gonna be an experience for the young Aussies, that's for sure.
"And then we're bringing back Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray; I don't think they've played for a while, not sure, but they're always quite a tough pair and they've played together a lot, so they know each other really well, and they're super comfortable."