Czech Katerina Siniakova and American Taylor Townsend added the Australian Open women’s doubles title to the one they won together at Wimbledon last year with victory over Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko in a superb final on Sunday.
The 39-year-old Hsieh and partner Ostapenko came from 5-3 down in the second set to force a decider but it was Siniakova and Townsend who emerged victorious 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 after two hours, 27 minutes of battle.
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It is a second Grand Slam doubles title for Townsend but a 10th for Siniakova. The Czech has won three of the past four slams and now has three Australian Open titles to her name, cementing her position as world No.1.
“That sounds nice when you say it,” Siniakova said. “I'm enjoying it. I love to play doubles, so I'm just really happy that I can say I have all this success, but it sounds amazing.”
Townsend said she had drawn inspiration from watching Madison Keys win the women’s singles title on Saturday night.
“Being able to watch Madison win made me really happy, she’s a really good friend of mine," Townsend said on court. "It’s been a great tournament for American tennis."
Later, at the post-match press conference, she expanded on her comments. “I can't even put into words how happy I am for her," she said. “The first is always so great, and it's kind of a relief. She's been close before, and I can attest to that feeling in doubles. It is different, but it's not. In singles as well, getting over the hump is getting over the hump no matter what.
“I have so much love for her. I went to her wedding in Charleston, and being able to share that moment with her off-court and just see the success on-court, it's priceless. I'm just so happy. Both of our names etched in this book for the years to come, and that's special.”
For Townsend, it was also a particularly poignant moment, the 28-year-old having last played at Rod Laver Arena when she was a junior.
“This is super-special to me,” the left-hander said. “The last time I played on this court, I was 15. I won the juniors here, that was the kickstart. Being here is so special to me, because this tournament was the start of me living out this dream. I honestly didn’t think playing on this stage was possible when I played the juniors, so 13 years later to be holding this trophy, it really is amazing.”
And Townsend said she hoped her achievements would help young people pick up a racquet and play tennis.
“I’m a little girl from the south side of Chicago. Winning this title in Melbourne, I hope this inspires people,” she said.
Hsieh said she and Ostapenko, who have both won Grand Slam titles with other partners, would continue to fight to win their first major together.
“Great tournament for you guys, congratulations,” Hsieh said. “I’m not very happy, these trophies are a little bit smaller than your trophies. Hopefully I get the big one next time.
“It’s been a really great two weeks for us, unfortunately we’re not winning the big trophy today but hopefully we win the next one.”
Siniakova is the first player to reach double digits for Slams in doubles since Martina Hingis won at Wimbledon in 2015, with Sania Mirza.
She’s also just the seventh woman in the Open era to win at least three of the last four Grand Slams in doubles, following in the footsteps of Martina Navratilova, Natasha Zvereva, Gigi Fernandez, Pam Shriver, Jana Novotna and Siniakova herself.