Siniaková and Krejčíková achieve career Golden Slam
Czech tennis duo Kateřina Siniaková and Barbora Krejčíková defeated their opponents in the US Open final on Sunday, meaning they have now won every major title in tennis doubles. But it was an extremely close game, and at first it was not at all clear that the pair would win.
Sunday’s women’s doubles final at the US Open in New York was hair-raisingly tight for tennis stars Kateřina Siniaková and Barbora Krejčíková. They lost their first set 3-6 to US players Caty McNally and Taylor Townsend and halfway through the match were 1-4 down in the second set.
But at this moment there was a turning point for the duo – they were seen to say something to each other on court, and after this they proceeded to win the set 7-5 followed by the third set 6-1, winning the match. Siniaková explains how the pair were able to make such a staggering comeback.
“I think we calmed down a little bit and we just said, ‘OK, it’s not going to be this time.’ And I think it helped us and we just played better tennis after that. So we were just trying to keep fighting and play every point. And in the end I’m so surprised and very happy that we did it!”
This was the pair’s sixth Grand Slam title and their third this year, having also won the Australian Open in January and Wimbledon in July. This season could have been one for the record books if not for their having been prevented from playing in the French Open due to Krejčíková testing positive for Covid-19. However, they previously won the title in 2018 and 2021.
When asked how the pair managed to be undefeated in every doubles’ Grand Slam tournament they played this year, this is what Krejčíková had to say.
“I don’t know how it happened – I found the whole season really difficult and especially this match. It was really really hard for us and I think the level was pretty high from both sides. At the end we were just trying to fight and it’s amazing that we won another slam and our team is doing great stuff.”
Their first US Open title completes their set, along with two French Open titles from 2018 and 2021, two Wimbledon titles from 2018 and 2022, and the Australian Open earlier this year, and ranks them alongside the likes of Martina Navratilová and Pam Shriver, Serena and Venus Williams, Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, and most recently Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, women’s doubles teams who also won all four major tournaments.
They also won gold last year at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were paradoxically held in 2021 due to Covid-related delays, meaning this victory at the US Open completes their career Golden Slam.
