by Reuters
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend beat Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 to win a gruelling final and claim the women’s doubles crown at the Australian Open on Sunday.
The victory at Rod Laver Arena gave Siniakova and Townsend their second Grand Slam title after their Wimbledon triumph last year, while it was the 10th major title for Czech Siniakova, the doubles world number one.
Ostapenko and Hsieh were playing in just their second tournament as a pairing and they gave the top seeds a good fight when they battled through the second set and forced a decider.
But Siniakova and Townsend regrouped in the final set, converting a crucial break point to go 5-3 up before serving out the set to win in two hours and 27 minutes.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
