Top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend came back from a set down to beat Olympic silver medallists Mirra Andreeva and Diana Schnaider 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-3 reaching the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open.
Siniakova and Townsend converted their third break point to take a 3-2 lead. Andreeva and Schnaider broke straight back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Schnaider and Andreeva earned two mini-breaks to take a 3-0 lead. Siniakova and Townsend pulled back on serve for 2-3. Andreeva and Schnaider earned a third mini-break to take a 4-2 lead. Siniakova and Townsend broke back for 4-5, but Andreeva and Schnaider won the final two points to seal the tie-break 7-4. Siniakova and Townsend saved four break points on Siniakova’s serve to hold serve at deuce in the third game for 2-1.
Siniakova and Townsend broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead, but they failed to serve out the second set from two set points at 5-3. Andreeva and Schnaider converted their sixth break point for 4-5, but Siniakova and Townsend bounced back to break serve in the 10th game to win the second set 6-4 sending the match to the third set.
Siniakova and Townsend broke serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 and served out the win on their first match point.
“It was definitely match, but even in the first set, we were up, we were doing great, we just missed a few opportunities, so we kept saying to each other that it was on our raquet, it was us who did the mistakes. We were really fighting every point, and I think the team spirit was really great. We supported each other, and I think that’s why we won”, said Siniakova in the post-match interview.
Siniakova and Townsend are aiming to win their second Grand Slam title as a team after winning at Wimbledon last year.
Siniakova and Townsend set up a championships match against Hsieh-su Wei and Jelena Ostapenko, who beat number 2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-3. Hsieh and Ostapenko will play in a final in just their second tournament together, after losing their first match of their partnership in Adelaide. Dabrowski and Routliffe opened up a 3-0 lead with two breaks of serve. Hsieh and Ostapenko pulled back on serve to draw level to 5-5. Dabrowski and Routliffe earned an early mini-break. Hsieh and Ostapenko won seven of the next eight points with three mini-breaks to take the tie-break 7-3. Dabrowski and Routliffe broke serve in the sixth game to win the second set 6-3. Hsieh and Ostapenko won 12 of the first 15 points of the third set to open up a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game and sealed the win on their second match point. They dropped just five in five service games of the third set.