Kateřina Siniaková never felt the need to choose between singles and doubles. Despite many advising her to focus solely on singles, despite seeing other players make that choice, and despite feeling that her doubles achievements didn’t bring the same level of recognition, she continued to successfully balance both. At 28, she has 10 Grand Slam doubles titles, two Olympic gold medals, is the world No. 1 in doubles, and has won five singles titles. Seven of her major titles came alongside her longtime partner, Barbora Krejčíková (with whom she achieved the Career Super Slam), while the other three were won with Coco Gauff and Taylor Townsend.
One of the most successful doubles players in tennis history, Kateřina is competing this week at the Transylvania Open. She arrived in Cluj after a strong start to the year, having added her tenth Grand Slam doubles title at the Australian Open and following an outstanding 2024 season, in which she reached her career-high singles ranking of No. 27 (in June) and won Olympic gold at the Paris Games in mixed doubles alongside Tomáš Macháč.
We sat down in Cluj to discuss her remarkable career, the choice between singles and doubles, what she enjoys most about her journey, and her thoughts on Simona Halep’s retirement.
Kateřina, how does it feel to be here at the Transylvania Open for the first time?
Yes, it’s my first time here, and I like it. It was a bit of a rush for me after all these travels, but I’m happy to be here. I like the arena, and the fact that the hotel is so close is great.
What are your goals for this season?
This season, I think the most important thing for me is to stay healthy and I’d love to enjoy the journey. If I stay healthy, results will follow. So, I’m not setting ranking-based goals, I just want to enjoy myself and keep improving every day.
You’ve had incredible success, especially in doubles. What do you think has contributed to your consistency?
I love playing doubles, and I think it’s different from singles. I like that we’re two on the court, it’s an advantage, or maybe not an advantage, but just different. If you’re not playing great, your partner can step in a bit more, and you can help each other out. I think I enjoy that dynamic, and I love being at the net. My reflexes are quite good, and I can handle almost anything. That’s the part of the game that suits me and that I enjoy.
Have you ever considered choosing between the two?
So far, I’ve been managing both well. A few years ago, I was debating whether to continue with doubles or give it up and focus solely on singles, because many people, pretty much everyone, believe that playing both is not ideal. But then I decided not to give up doubles because I wasn’t in a position where it was bothering me, I wasn’t ranked very high in singles, and, honestly, part of my doubles prize money was helping me financially. So, at that time, I decided to keep playing both as long as I was physically capable of doing so. I train anyway, and sometimes a doubles match is even better than a normal practice session for me. So, if I’m physically ready, I want to do both. Sometimes scheduling is tough because I finish later in doubles—that happened here as well, as I arrived late from Linz (where I played the doubles semifinals)—but so far, I wouldn’t change anything.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
Oh, I think of everything. Looking back, I’m really happy with my career. If someone had told me at the beginning when I was dreaming about achieving all this… I’m proud of the Olympics, every athlete dreams of competing there and I have two Olympic titles, so that’s something very special for me. But I don’t like to compare and pick just one title because everything is part of my journey: my singles titles, my Grand Slam doubles ones, my Olympic titles. It’s all about the journey. It made me who I am. There have been many highs and many lows, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I love my career.
Is there anything in particular you still want to achieve?
Well, I’d love to improve in singles, for sure. But I don’t want to put that pressure on myself. As I said, I just want to work on myself and improve my game. There are things to change or improve to make that happen, so I’m just focusing on that. If it happens, it will be amazing. If not, I’ll still be fine.
Do you think doubles get enough recognition?
No, I don’t think so. I think there’s a big difference between who watches it and how it’s promoted. But that’s just the way it is, and I don’t mind, I love my career, as I said. If more people watched, that would be great, but if not, I’m still proud of myself, it doesn’t bother me that I don’t get the same level of attention. That’s not why I do it, I do it to improve myself, because I’m capable of it, because I love tennis, because the fight is for me and I’m proud of myself. Sometimes it’s a bit sad, but it’s been like this since the beginning of my career and I don’t want to waste my energy trying to change it—that’s just how things are.
The crowd in Cluj experienced an emotional moment when Simona Halep announced her retirement. How do you see her impact on the sport?
She’s an incredible player, I feel very lucky to have shared the court with her. The announcement was a huge surprise, but I can imagine how hard this must be for her. I have to congratulate her on an amazing career because, as I said, I think she is an outstanding player and her career has been phenomenal. She should be proud of herself and I wish her all the best in whatever comes next.
I think her impact here is much greater. I mean, it’s incredible, it’s hard to compare (to her impact in the Czech Republic). I would be very happy and proud if I could inspire young girls and children to play tennis. It would be amazing if that happened, I would be proud of that.
