Elena Rybakina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reunite at Madrid Open 2023

Elena Rybakina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova have teamed up for the women's doubles event at the 2023 Madrid Open.

The Kazakh-Russian pair entered the tournament using a protected ranking and thrashed seventh seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 6-0, 6-1 in the first round. They will next face either Timea Babos and Anna Danilina or Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse for a place in the quarterfinals.

Pavlyuchenkova shared an image of herself and Rybakina on her Instagram story, with the caption reading:

"Double trouble is back."

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's Instagram story

Rybakina and Pavlyuchenkova teamed up earlier in the season as well. They competed at the Adelaide International 2 and reached the final before losing to Luisa Stefani and Taylor Townsend.

The pair also took part in the Australian Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships, where they reached the third round and Round of 16 respectively.

Rybakina and Pavlyuchenkova competed in two Grand Slams in 2021, with the French Open being their first tournament as a doubles team. They reached the quarterfinals in Paris before losing to Bernarda Pera and Magda Linette.

Interestingly, Rybakina and Pavlyuchenkova met in the singles quarterfinals at the same event, with the latter winning 6-7(2), 6-2, 9-7.

The Kazakh-Russian duo also took part in the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, where they were eliminated by Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova.

Elena Rybakina to face Anna Kalinskaya in Madrid Open 2R

Elena Rybakina in action at the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round

Elena Rybakina has had a terrific season so far, with 22 wins out of 28 matches. She won the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and reached the finals of the Australian Open and Miami Open.

The 23-year-old will start her singles campaign at the Madrid Open against Anna Kalinskaya, who came back from a set down to defeat Brenda Fruhvirtova 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in her previous match.

Rybakina and Kalinskaya will lock horns for the second time on the WTA tour, with the Kazakh winning their previous encounter 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Miami Open.

The winner will face either 27th seed Petra Martic or Laura Siegemund in the third round.