Unseeded pair Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai defeated second seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 6-3 6-4 to claim the women’s doubles title at the Australian Open on Friday.
Australian Stosur, who has a history of suffering attacks of nerves in front of home fans, struggled to serve out the match at Rod Laver Arena and double-faulted on match point.
But she and China’s Zhang held on and claimed the win when Hungary’s Babos struck long in a baseline duel with Stosur.
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Stosur claimed her third Grand Slam doubles title after winning the 2005 U.S. Open and 2006 French Open, while Zhang celebrated her first.
The 2019 Australia open is a Grand Slam Tennis tournament that is taking place at Melbourne Park from January 14 to January 27 2019.
It is the 107th edition of the Australian Open, the 51st in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year.
The tournament consists of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Junior and wheelchair players compete in singles and doubles tournaments.
As in previous years, the tournament’s main sponsor is Kia. (NAN)
