Krejčíková and Siniaková win Australian Open bringing their Grand Slam tally up to four
Czech Republic’s doubles duo Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková won their fourth Grand Slam title on Sunday after a beating Kazakstan's Anna Danilina and Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in a three set final battle for the Australian Open title.
Winners of last year’s French Open and the Olympic Games, Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková were top seeds in this year’s Australian Open and advanced to the finals without losing a single set.
However, the last game for the title turned out to be a nearly three hour long battle against Beatriz Haddad Maia and Anna Danilina, a newly formed doubles team whose road to the finals included beating number two seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara in the semi-final.
The unseeded Brazilian-Kazakhstani duo started out strong, winning a tie-break and taking the first set. But the Czechs came back, winning the next two sets 6:4 and 6:4. The last point of the game was won in a curious fashion, as the exchange between both teams turned into a lobbing contest that Barbora Krejčíková eventually won. Her coach joked after the game that the teams were drawing the Tatra Mountains as they battled for the championship point.
Speaking after the game, Krejčíková paid tribute to her opponents, highlighting that they had not just managed to reach the finals of the Grand Slam but also managed to win the preceding WTA Sydney International tournament after several three-set matches.
“I’m going to start by congratulating the girls. They have been playing amazingly well. I saw them two weeks ago in Sydney, where they were playing and it was really amazing that they got the title, because they were down. So congratulations. You played really well. I hope you are going to continue and we are going to have more fights like this.”
Both Czechs also congratulated their tennis partner. The duo has won four Grand Slams since they began playing together four years ago: two French Opens, one Wimbledon and now the Australian Open for the first time. Kateřina Siniaková mentioned the long partnership in her post-game address.
“A big thanks is for Bara, because we have been team mates for a long time. It’s not easy every day, but we are trying to support each other and today we were fighting really hard. We need to push each other and today you were pushing me more, helping me and just being on my side on the court.”
Asked by Czech Radio’s sports correspondent Jaroslav Plašil whether the two are now planning to add the US Open, the last Grand Slam title, to their collection this year both women said that they are taking the tournaments one at a time and are now mainly focused on resting ahead of the upcoming WTA competitions in Dubai and Doha.
Barbora Krejčíková , who achieved her best result yet at the Australian Open in the singles category this year after reaching the quarter-finals, is also Czechia’s biggest hope for this year’s singles performances at the Grand Slams. Her success “down under” saw her rise from fifth to third place in the women’s WTA rankings, behind Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka and Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.
