Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend have claimed their second grand slam title after surviving a tense fightback to secure victory in the Australian Open women’s doubles final.
Czech Siniakova and American Townsend held off Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko to win 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 in their Australia Day decider on Rod Laver Arena.
The top seeds seemed headed for a comfortable win after being up 5-3 in the second set, but a nervous Townsend faltered while serving for the match, with her partner tossing her racquet in disgust.
That allowed their third-seeded rivals to level at 5-5, with the crafty Hsieh then holding serve for a 6-5 lead.
World No.1-ranked Siniakova continued her unblemished serving record to force the set to a tiebreak but she and Townsend couldn’t stick with Hsieh and Ostapenko.
In the deciding set the teams went toe-to-toe until the eighth game when Hsieh lost her serve after some confusion on who would take the shot on break point.
That allowed Siniakova the chance to serve for the title and she made no mistake.
Siniakova linked with Townsend after her Australian partner, former top-ranked Storm Hunter ruptured her achilles in April, with the pair collecting their first major title at Wimbledon.
It was Siniakova’s third crown from four Australian Open women’s doubles finals appearances, having won in 2022 and 2023 with Barbora Krejcikova, and her 10th major crown overall.
It’s Townsend’s first victory at Melbourne Park.
The win denied Hsieh, who is coached by former Australian Open tournament director and doubles legend Paul McNamee, an eighth grand slam doubles title with a fifth different partner.
Ostapenko, who won the French Open singles title in 2017, was bidding for her second in a row after teaming with Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok to win the US Open last year.
Hsieh won the Open last year with Belgian Elise Mertens, beating Ostapenko and Kichenok.
Ostapenko, who is ranked 22nd in singles, only linked with Hsieh this year, with the pair playing their first tournament in Adelaide.
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