NEW DELHI: Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei and Belgium's Elise Mertens secured the women's doubles title at the Australian Open with a convincing 6-1, 7-5 victory over the Latvian-Ukrainian pair Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok on Sunday.
The triumph marked the second Grand Slam women's doubles title for the second-seeded duo, adding to their Wimbledon victory in 2021.
Hsieh Su-Wei, aged 38, became the second-oldest woman to win a Grand Slam doubles title, following Lisa Raymond.
The match started with Hsieh and Mertens breaking in the third game, establishing an early advantage and comfortably closing out the first set. The second set proved more competitive, with Ostapenko and Kichenok initially securing a service break. However, Hsieh and Mertens fought back, breaking twice to take a 5-3 lead.
Despite a temporary setback as their opponents leveled at 5-5, Hsieh and Mertens broke for the third time in the set to secure the championship on their first championship point.
Hsieh, who had recently retired from singles competition, added another title to her impressive doubles career. In addition to her seven major women's doubles crowns, she claimed her second title at the Australian Open, having also won the mixed doubles final on Friday.
After the match, Mertens expressed gratitude, saying, "Congratulations girls for playing a great match. The second set was really close, and we had to fight really hard today. Thanks everyone for coming out."
(With inputs from Reuters)The TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the ...
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