Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic claimed the Australian Open Women’s Doubles title after they edged past Russian duo, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-3.
Heading into the final, Makarova and Vesnina were the clear favourites as they had won the other three grand slam titles. The Russians backed up their favourite status by sealing an early break in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.
However Babos and Mladenovic looked impressive during their Australian Open run and some good returning gave them the break back for 4-4. The fifth seeds continued their momentum as the Russian struggled on serve as they broke in the tenth game to grab the opening set in 37 minutes.
In the second set there were four breaks of serve in the opening five games as weak second serves cost both teams. However the French-Hungarian duo grabbed the crucial blow in the eighth game as they took a 5-3 lead and had the opportunity to serve for the title. After a long game and three break points saved, Babos and Mladenovic sealed their first grand slam as a team on their first match point.
After the match Mladenovic was proud of their win especially since she has been on a 15 match losing streak in singles, “How can I describe this? It’s a Grand Slam title that I add to my career. It’s something you cannot describe in a way. It’s so emotional. It’s great. When you live moment like this, there is no reason why it couldn’t work in singles. Obviously it’s a lot of confidence, yeah, just positivity for me.” Said Mladenovic.
Babos, who has won her first grand slam after two previous Women’s Doubles losses in finals, explained her delight as well, “Of course it’s an incredible feeling to share this moment together on court. We really enjoy playing together. We improved overall I think every single match.”
Babos and Mladenovic’s win means it is their first grand slam victory while Russian duo, Makarova and Vesnina will have to wait to complete their grand slam collection.
