MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) – Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgium’s Elise Mertens defeated Latvian-Ukrainian pair Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmir A Kichenok 6-1, 7-5 at the Australian Open on Sunday She won the women’s doubles title with a big win. .
With the win, the second seed clinched her second women’s Grand Slam doubles crown following her victory at Wimbledon in 2021, making Hsieh the second-oldest player in history to win a Grand Slam, after Lisa Raymond. She became the first woman to win a doubles title.
Hsieh, 38, took time away from her singles career after losing in the first round of qualifying at this year’s Melbourne Park, but won Friday’s mixed doubles final to claim her second title Down Under. did.
Victories over Ostapenko and Kichenok ensured Hsieh’s seventh major women’s doubles title, adding to her four wins at Wimbledon and two at Roland Garros, while Mertens increased her Grand Slam women’s doubles title to four. .
Hsieh and Mertens broke in the third game to take an early advantage and never looked back, closing out the first set with minimal fuss.
The second set was even closer, with Ostapenko and Kichenok taking the lead with early service breaks, but Hsieh and Mertens broke back to level the score at 2-2 and lead again at 5-3.
However, the second-seeded team could not finish the match and was tied at 5-5 by Ostapenko and Kichenok, but after two games he was not denied and broke for the third time in the set. The victory was secured with the first championship points.
Coach Mertens said, “Congratulations to the girls who played a great game.” “The second set was really close and we had to fight really hard today. Thank you to everyone who came out.”