MELBOURNE — No.1 seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend battled past
No.3 seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 in a gripping
final on Sunday to clinch the women's doubles title at the Australian Open.
Siniakova and Townsend, the Czech-American pair lived up to
their top-seeded billing on Rod Laver Arena, but they had to shake off a
second-set comeback by Hsieh and Ostapenko before taking the match after 2
hours and 27 minutes of play.
Doubles world no. 1 Siniakova has now won 10 Grand Slam
titles in women's doubles. She is the first player to amass 10 women's doubles
major titles since Martina Hingis captured her 10th at 2015 Wimbledon. Her
Grand Slam trophy haul includes seven titles with Barbora Krejcikova, one with
Coco Gauff, and now two with Townsend, according to WTA.
This is Siniakova third Australian Open title, having won
here in 2022 and 2023 with Krejcikova. she has won 29 WTA doubles titles
overall. Townsend, on the other hand, has now won eight career WTA doubles
titles, two of which are Slams, and seven of which have come after her return
from maternity leave in 2022.
In their first Grand Slam event as a pairing, Siniakova and
Townsend won last year's Wimbledon title -- Townsend's first major title as a
pro. They followed up with a semifinal showing at the 2024 US Open before
hoisting another major trophy on Sunday. They have gone 15-1 in their three
Slams as a duo.
Siniakova and Townsend dominated the first set, but things
got tricky in the second. Townsend served for the win at 6-3, 5-4, but Hsieh
and Ostapenko broke back to level at 5-5. The set went to a tiebreak, where
Hsieh's return winner sealed the second set.
In the third set, Siniakova hit three double faults and was
broken early, but she and Townsend quickly broke back. The top seeds gained
control with a crucial break of Hsieh's serve at 5-3. Townsend's volleying
helped Siniakova hold serve, and they reached triple championship point.
Townsend finished it off with a forecourt putaway, securing their second major
title.
Former WTA Doubles World No.1 Hsieh was trying to defend her
title (she won the 2024 Australian Open with Elise Mertens) and Ostapenko was
eyeing her second straight Slam (she won the 2024 US Open with Lyudmyla
Kichenok).
