Lindsay Davenport and Mary Joe Fernandez were the defending champions but they competed with different partners that year, Davenport with Natasha Zvereva and Fernandez with Katrina Adams.
| Women's doubles | |
|---|---|
| 1997 Sydney International | |
| 1996 Champions |  Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernandez |
| Champions | Gigi Fernández  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario |
| Runners-up | Lindsay Davenport  Natasha Zvereva |
| Score | 6–3, 6–1 |
Adams and Fernandez lost in the quarterfinals to Sabine Appelmans and Miriam Oremans.
Davenport and Zvereva lost in the final 6–3, 6–1 against Gigi Fernández and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.
Seeds
editChampion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.
Gigi Fernández / 
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (champions)- Lindsay Davenport /
Natasha Zvereva (final) - Nicole Arendt /
Manon Bollegraf (first round) - Katrina Adams / Mary Joe Fernandez (quarterfinals)
Draw
editKey
edit- 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
| First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | G Fernández A Sánchez Vicario
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 I Spîrlea P Tarabini
| 3 | 2 | 1 | G Fernández A Sánchez Vicario
| 6 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Q | C Cristea T Ječmenica
| 77 | 6 | Q | C Cristea T Ječmenica
| 4 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
 L Golarsa R Simpson
| 63 | 2 | 1 | G Fernández A Sánchez Vicario
| 77 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | K Adams M J Fernandez
| 5 | 6 | 6 |  S Appelmans M Oremans
| 64 | 6 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
 R Hiraki J Husárová
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | K Adams M J Fernandez
| 5 | 6 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S Appelmans M Oremans
| 6 | 6 | S Appelmans M Oremans
| 7 | 3 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 A Dechaume-Balleret S Testud
| 4 | 4 | 1 | Gigi Fernández Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
| 6 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 N Bradtke R McQuillan
| 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva
| 3 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| LL | A Grossman T Whitlinger-Jones
| 6 | 5 | 6 | LL | A Grossman T Whitlinger-Jones
| 5 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| A Frazier K Po
| 6 | 2 | 6 | A Frazier K Po
| 7 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | N Arendt M Bollegraf
| 4 | 6 | 0 | A Frazier K Po
| 0 | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C Rubin B Schultz-McCarthy
| 5 | 6 | 0 | 2 | L Davenport N Zvereva
| 6 | 77 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WC |  A Coetzer M Pierce
| 7 | 4 | 6 | WC | A Coetzer M Pierce
| 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
 Y Basuki C Vis
| 3 | 5 | 2 | L Davenport N Zvereva
| 6 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | L Davenport N Zvereva
| 6 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||