Melbourne, Australia – After continuing to grow the number of players in the singles main draw with college ties, the growth and development opportunities of college tennis continue to be shown in the men’s and women’s doubles main draws at the 2025 Australian Open as 64 players who spent time in college will be competing in doubles over the next two weeks.
Rising from 60 total players in 2024, 55 total players in 2023, and 49 total players in 2022, former college tennis players continue to show the developmental opportunities that reside at the collegiate level with the doubles skills learned from playing in the dual match format giving them a step ahead of their competitors on the ATP and WTA Tours.
At the 2024 Australian Open, the all-college team of Yannick Hanfmann (USC) and Dominik Koepfer (Tulane) made a run to the semifinals of the men’s doubles draw, while Erin Routliffe (Alabama) reached the semifinals of the women’s doubles draw with partner Gabriela Dabrowski. This came after a strong showing in 2023 as well in which Rinky Hijikata (North Carolina) won his first Grand Slam title with partner Jason Kubler and Ena Shibihara (UCLA) reached the women’s doubles finals.
Six players with college ties currently rank within the Top 15 of the ATP or WTA Rankings, led by Marcelo Arevalo (Tulsa) who is ranked No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings. Joining Arevalo in the Top 15 includes Routliffe (Alabama, WTA No. 2), Tim Puetz (Auburn, ATP No. 10), Desirae Krawczyk (Arizona State, WTA No. 11), Henry Patton (UNC Asheville, ATP No. 13), and Ellen Perez (Georgia, WTA No. 13).
There will be several all-college pairings this year in Melbourne, headlined by the likes of Joe Salisbury (Memphis) and Neal Skupski (LSU), Danielle Collins (Florida, Virginia) and Krawczyk (Arizona State), Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M) and Rajeev Ram (Illinois), and the pairing of Luisa Stefani (Pepperdine) and Peyton Stearns (Texas).
In the women’s draw, Florida leads the way with three former players represented, just ahead of Texas and USC who each have two former players in the draw. Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Wake Forest each have three former players in the men’s doubles main draw.
For a complete list of players with college ties competing in the Australian Open singles draws continue reading below.