The American-Czech pair of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova beat Czech Republic’s Andrea Hlavackova and Chinese Peng Shuai 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 to win the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open on Friday.
Mattek-Sands and Safarova have now won four of the last nine majors. The Chinese-Czech pairing got an early break but Mattek-Sands and Safarova took the first set to a tiebreaker. But Hlavackova and Peng, who till then had not dropped a set, won it.
{{/usCountry}}Mattek-Sands and Safarova have now won four of the last nine majors. The Chinese-Czech pairing got an early break but Mattek-Sands and Safarova took the first set to a tiebreaker. But Hlavackova and Peng, who till then had not dropped a set, won it.
{{/usCountry}}The American-Czech pair however forced a break in the opening game of the second and built on that advantage before Safarova sent the match into a decider. With Hlavackova having fallen to Mattek-Sands and Safarova twice before in major finals – Peng was yet to face them – she seemed intent on proving that this was to be third time lucky for her. But it wasn’t to be as the second seeds powered to victory.