Top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend claimed the women’s doubles crown at the Australian Open on Sunday after beating Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 in a gruelling final.

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.

“Big thanks goes to Taylor, we are having fun and that’s the most important, so thank you for playing with me. I’m really enjoying it,” Siniakova said after lifting the trophy with her American partner.

For Townsend, the win was a full-circle moment in her career after she won the title as a junior in Melbourne in 2012.

“This is super special to me, the last time I played on this court I was 15,” she said.

“This tournament was the start of me being able to live out my dream. I honestly didn’t think that it was possible for me to be playing on this stage.”

Siniakova and Townsend had several opportunities to break early on and finally converted a break point to go 2-1 up as Hsieh and Ostapenko struggled with their serve.

The third seeds quickly found themselves 5-1 down as Siniakova and Townsend consolidated a double break before the American sealed the set with an emphatic volley at the net.

After they traded early breaks in the second set, Townsend was once again effective at the net with an overhead smash that gave them a 4-3 lead before Siniakova held her serve to put them one game away from the title.

But Ostapenko and Hsieh, playing in just their second tournament as a pairing, broke back in the 10th game when Townsend served for the title.

A frustrated Siniakova threw her racket on the ground before the third seeds won the tiebreak and forced a decider. The Czech then lost her composure and was broken in the first game of the third set with three double faults.

But they quickly regrouped to break back and Siniakova converted a crucial break point to go 5-3 up.

This time, Siniakova served for the title, and despite another double fault with three championship points, they sealed victory when Townsend fired a volley at the net down the middle to win in two hours and 27 minutes.

“I think for our second tournament, playing a Grand Slam final is not bad,” Ostapenko said.

“Together, I hope there are many more trophies for us.”

-Reuters

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Novak Djokovic retired injured after losing the first set 7-6(5) against Alexander Zverev on Friday to put the German through to his first Australian Open final and extend his wait for a record 25th Grand Slam title.

Zverev will meet either Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton in Sunday’s decider as he bids for his first Grand Slam title, but Djokovic will remain locked with Margaret Court on 24 major trophies until at least the French Open.

There were doubts about Djokovic’s left thigh following his taxing quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz when he took a lengthy medical timeout after the first set against the Spaniard.

The 37-year-old Serb skipped a training session on the eve of the semi-final and entered Rod Laver Arena for the afternoon match with the thigh strapped.

But there was little indication he was struggling until late in the set when he began trudging slowly between points and muttering in frustration at his players’ box.

He gave up the set by hammering a regulation forehand volley into the net and promptly walked to Zverev’s side to shake hands and embrace the German, leaving the crowd gasping.

With a rueful expression, Djokovic held two thumbs up and clapped at the terraces but there was a round of boos as the 10-times champion made his exit.

Djokovic later said he had been trying to nurse a torn muscle and he was in increasing pain as the set wore on.

“I knew even if I won the first set, that it’s going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies, you know, for another God knows what, two, three, four hours,” the Serb told reporters.

“I don’t think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank.”

‘SHOW SOME RESPECT’

Zverev said he was also surprised by Djokovic’s retirement but noted the Serb’s movement had fallen away in the tiebreak.

“I thought it was a high level first set,” he added.

“Of course there are some difficulties … in the tiebreak he was not moving. I did see him struggle a bit more.”

Zverev also admonished sections of the crowd for jeering Djokovic, who has dominated the year’s opening Grand Slam since winning his first trophy at Melbourne Park in 2008.

“The very first thing I want to say is, please guys, don’t boo a player when he goes out with injury,” Zverev said.

“I know everyone paid for tickets and everyone wants to see hopefully a great five-set match.

“But … Novak Djokovic is someone who has given this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life.

“He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear, won this tournament with a hamstring injury.

“So please show some respect.”

The truncated semi-final win is a huge boost for Zverev’s hopes of finally winning a Grand Slam, having missed out to Alcaraz in last year’s French Open final and surrendering a two-set lead before losing to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 U.S. Open decider.

The rangy 27-year-old has been tipped for Grand Slam success since his teen years but was often thwarted by the likes of Djokovic and the now-retired Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.

Zverev was strong on serve on Friday and appeared content to wage attritional rallies with the Serb while biding his time for chances.

Though failing to convert all five break points he had over Djokovic, Zverev was rock-solid in the tiebreak.

He thrashed a forehand down the line to bring up set point with a 24th winner before Djokovic made his stunning exit, a year after being shocked by Sinner in the semi-finals.

-Reuters

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Novak Djokovic beat young rival Carlos Alcaraz 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in a gladiatorial battle worthy of a title clash to charge into the Australian Open semi-finals on Tuesday and remain in the hunt for a record 25th Grand Slam title.

In the latest chapter of a generational rivalry that has played out on the biggest stages, including last year’s Olympic final in Paris which Djokovic won, it was the 37-year-old who maintained his hardcourt dominance over Alcaraz.

Defeat was a blow for the 21-year-old Spaniard as the French Open and Wimbledon champion’s bid to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam went up in flames, and he was left to digest his third loss to Djokovic on the surface.

“I wish this match today was the final,” said Djokovic, who next takes on German second seed Alexander Zverev in what would be a men’s record 50th major singles semi-final for the Serb.

“It’s just one of the most epic matches that I’ve played on this court, on any court, really. So thank you all for staying at 1 a.m. to watch us and support the players.”

Some loose shots at the start of the match put Alcaraz on the back foot but he fired a magnificent backhand winner to pull back a break and was rock solid from there, vaulting to a 5-4 lead in a physical opening set after Djokovic made an error.

Having dropped his serve for a second time, Djokovic took an off-court medical timeout and returned with his left thigh taped up, but the seventh-seeded Serb could not prevent Alcaraz from holding to love with a big ace at the end to clinch the set.

“Since I’m still in the tournament, I don’t want to reveal too much, obviously,” Djokovic said.

“The medication started to kick in, and they helped. No doubt, I had to take another dose. I mean, this sounds awful. Me taking another dose. If I lost that second set, I don’t know if I would continue playing, but I felt better and better.”

AGGRESSIVE DJOKOVIC

Djokovic was far more aggressive in the second set and made several forays towards the net to reel off the first three games before producing a spectacular backhand overhead smash assisted by the net cord at one point, but Alcaraz pulled level at 3-3.

The momentum shifted again as Djokovic heaped the pressure on the third-seeded Spaniard with heavy ball-striking to claim the second set and drew massive cheers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd when he broke for a 4-2 and then 5-3 lead in the third.

Playing like a much younger version of himself, 10-times Melbourne Park champion Djokovic showed surgical precision to claim the set before breaking early in the next one to tighten his grip on the match.

Alcaraz won an incredible 33-shot rally to rescue a break point while down 4-2 in the fourth set and smiled as he gasped for air but Djokovic used all his experience to seal the win in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

“God knows when we’re going to go to sleep,” said Djokovic.

“I guess the key is recovery for me. To be honest, that’s all I’m thinking about. The extra day with no match comes at the perfect time for me.

“Let’s see if it’s going to be good enough on Friday, hopefully I can come out and feel my best because Sasha (Zverev) is playing some of the best tennis he has played.

“We have an agreement, as long as I play he’s going to let me win Grand Slam matches,” Djokovic said with a smile.

-Reuters

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