IMAGE: Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova, left, and Barbora Krejcikova pose with the championship trophy. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
French Open champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova added the Australian Open’s women’s doubles title to their resume on Sunday, with a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 win over Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The number one seeds, who were beaten finalists at Melbourne Park last year, took time to hit their stride and were forced to come back from a set down to claim the title for the first time.
The unseeded duo overpowered the Olympic champions in a tiebreak to win the first set, but the scores were levelled up at the end of the second, as the Czech pair found their rhythm.
Krejcikova and Siniakova broke on Haddad Maia’s serve five games into the deciding set to claim the advantage and Siniakova’s forehand winner down the line on Danilina’s serve two games later increased the gap.
Danilina’s volley at the net earned a break back that put their opponents’ celebrations on hold, but Krejcikova held her serve to close out the match.
The win is the Czech duo’s fourth Grand Slam title together, after having claimed the French Open in 2018 and 2021 and Wimbledon in 2018.
