Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and her Belgian partner Elise Mertens won the women's doubles title at the Australian Open on Sunday after a commanding victory of 6-1, 7-5 against the duo of Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok. With this win, the second-seeded pair claimed their second Grand Slam women's doubles title, following their triumph at Wimbledon in 2021. Additionally, Hsieh became the second oldest player to win a major title in doubles after Lisa Raymond. At 38 years old, Hsieh ended her singles career after losing in the first round of the Australian Open qualifying rounds this year. However, she still secured her second title at the tournament after winning the mixed doubles title last Friday. Today's victory also marked Hsieh's seventh Grand Slam women's doubles title, after her four wins at Wimbledon and two at the French Open.
In the first set, Hsieh and Mertens broke their opponents' serve in the third game and quickly took the set. The second set featured a tougher competition, with Ostapenko and Kichenok taking an early lead after a break of serve, but Hsieh and Mertens responded with a break of their own, leveling the match at 2-2 before leading 5-3. The match was tied again at 5-5 before Hsieh and Mertens broke their opponents' serve once more, clinching the set, match, and title on their first opportunity. Mertens expressed her gratitude after the victory, stating, "Congratulations to the girls for putting on a great match. The second set was really close, and we had to fight hard today. Thank you to everyone for coming."
