# 2021 Italian Open – Women's doubles

Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová were the defending champions, but Strýcová retired from professional tennis in May 2021. Hsieh played alongside Elise Mertens, but lost in the second round to Sharon Fichman and Giuliana Olmos.
The alternates Fichman and Olmos went on to win the title, defeating Kristina Mladenovic and Markéta Vondroušová in the final, 4–6, 7–5, [10–5], saving 2 championship points, in the process. By reaching the final, Mladenovic usurped newly crowned Mertens for the doubles number 1 ranking.

## Seeds

* Hsieh Su-wei / Elise Mertens (second round)
* Barbora Krejčíková / Kateřina Siniaková (quarterfinals)
* Nicole Melichar / Demi Schuurs (second round)
* Shuko Aoyama / Ena Shibahara (semifinals)
* Alexa Guarachi / Desirae Krawczyk (first round)
* Chan Hao-ching / Latisha Chan (quarterfinals)
* Xu Yifan / Zhang Shuai (first round)
* Gabriela Dabrowski / Asia Muhammad (second round)

## Draw
### Key

* Q = Qualifier
* WC = Wild card
* LL = Lucky loser
* Alt = Alternate
* SE = Special exempt
* PR = Protected ranking
* ITF = ITF entry
* JE = Junior exempt
* w/o = Walkover
* r = Retired
* d = Defaulted
* SR = Special ranking

### Finals

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| Alt | Sharon Fichman Giuliana Olmos | 6 | 6 | | | | | |
| 4 | Shuko Aoyama Ena Shibahara | 3 | 2 | | | | | |
| 4 | Shuko Aoyama Ena Shibahara | 3 | 2 | Alt | Sharon Fichman Giuliana Olmos | 4 | 7 | [10] |
| | | | | | Kristina Mladenovic Markéta Vondroušová | 6 | 5 | [5] |
| WC | Irina-Camelia Begu Sara Errani | 2 | 3 | | Kristina Mladenovic Markéta Vondroušová | 6 | 5 | [5] |
| | Kristina Mladenovic Markéta Vondroušová | 6 | 6 | | | | | |

### Top half

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| | | | | | 1 | S-w Hsieh E Mertens | 6 | 4 | [4] | | | | | | | | | |
| | B Mattek-Sands J Pegula | 6 | 2 | [3] | Alt | S Fichman G Olmos | 1 | 6 | [10] | | | | | | | | | |
| Alt | S Fichman G Olmos | 3 | 6 | [10] | | | | | | Alt | S Fichman G Olmos | 1 | 7$^8$ | [10] | | | | |
| WC | N Brancaccio L Bronzetti | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | C Gauff V Kudermetova | 6 | 6$^6$ | [6] | | | | |
| | C Gauff V Kudermetova | 6 | 6 | | | C Gauff V Kudermetova | 7$^7$ | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| PR | A Kudryavtseva M Niculescu | 2 | 1 | | 8 | G Dabrowski A Muhammad | 6$^2$ | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | G Dabrowski A Muhammad | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | Alt | S Fichman G Olmos | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | S Aoyama E Shibahara | 3 | 2 |
| | | | | | 4 | S Aoyama E Shibahara | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Kichenok J Ostapenko | 3 | 2 | | WC | G Gatto-Monticone B Turati | 1 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | G Gatto-Monticone B Turati | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | 4 | S Aoyama E Shibahara | 4 | 7 | [10] | | | | |
| | D Jurak A Klepač | 2 | 7 | [10] | | | | | | 6 | H-c Chan L Chan | 6 | 5 | [6] | | | | |
| | N Kichenok R Olaru | 6 | 5 | [5] | | D Jurak A Klepač | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | D Kasatkina P Martić | 2 | 3 | | 6 | H-c Chan L Chan | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | H-c Chan L Chan | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Bottom half

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| 7 | Y Xu S Zhang | 3 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | E Perez S Zheng | 6 | 6 | | | E Perez S Zheng | 3 | 6 | [7] | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | I-C Begu S Errani | 1 | 7 | [10] | WC | I-C Begu S Errani | 6 | 3 | [10] | | | | | | | | | |
| Alt | Q Wang Y Wang | 6 | 5 | [4] | | | | | | WC | I-C Begu S Errani | 6 | 4 | [10] | | | | |
| PR | E Vesnina V Zvonareva | 4 | 6 | [10] | | | | | | PR | E Vesnina V Zvonareva | 2 | 6 | [8] | | | | |
| | E Alexandrova Z Yang | 6 | 4 | [3] | PR | E Vesnina V Zvonareva | 7 | 1 | [11] | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 3 | N Melichar D Schuurs | 5 | 6 | [9] | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | WC | I-C Begu S Errani | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | A Guarachi D Krawczyk | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | K Mladenovic M Vondroušová | 6 | 6 |
| | K Mladenovic M Vondroušová | 6 | 6 | | | K Mladenovic M Vondroušová | 1 | 6 | [10] | | | | | | | | | |
| PR | M Ninomiya Y Shvedova | 4 | 7 | [7] | | L Hradecká L Siegemund | 6 | 4 | [8] | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Hradecká L Siegemund | 6 | 5 | [10] | | | | | | | K Mladenovic M Vondroušová | 2 | 6 | [10] | | | | |
| | C Garcia N Podoroska | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | 2 | B Krejčíková K Siniaková | 6 | 4 | [3] | | | | |
| | H Carter L Stefani | 6 | 6 | | | H Carter L Stefani | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | B Krejčíková K Siniaková | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |

## WTA doubles main draw entrants
### Seeds

| Country | Player | Country | Player | Rank$^1$ | Seed |
| TPE | Hsieh Su-wei | BEL | Elise Mertens | 4 | 1 |
| CZE | Barbora Krejčíková | CZE | Kateřina Siniaková | 15 | 2 |
| USA | Nicole Melichar | NED | Demi Schuurs | 21 | 3 |
| JPN | Shuko Aoyama | JPN | Ena Shibahara | 26 | 4 |
| CHI | Alexa Guarachi | USA | Desirae Krawczyk | 34 | 5 |
| TPE | Chan Hao-ching | TPE | Latisha Chan | 42 | 6 |
| CHN | Xu Yifan | CHN | Zhang Shuai | 47 | 7 |
| CAN | Gabriela Dabrowski | USA | Asia Muhammad | 48 | 8 |
* Rankings are as of April 26, 2021.

### Other entrants

The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:
* Irina-Camelia Begu / Sara Errani
* Nuria Brancaccio / Lucia Bronzetti
* Giulia Gatto-Monticone / Bianca Turati
The following pairs received entry into the doubles main draw using protected rankings:
* Alla Kudryavtseva / Monica Niculescu
* Makoto Ninomiya / Yaroslava Shvedova
* Elena Vesnina / Vera Zvonareva
The following pairs received entry into the doubles main draw as alternates:
* Sharon Fichman / Giuliana Olmos
* Wang Qiang / Wang Yafan

### Withdrawals
#### Before the tournament

* Tímea Babos / Veronika Kudermetova → replaced by Coco Gauff / Veronika Kudermetova
* Ashleigh Barty / Jennifer Brady → replaced by Sharon Fichman / Giuliana Olmos
* Sofia Kenin / Alison Riske → replaced by Wang Qiang / Wang Yafan