MELBOURNE - The unseeded pairing of American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Czech Lucie Safarova won the Australian Open women's doubles title Friday, their first Grand Slam success. The two were playing together in Melbourne for the first time and clicked immediately, downing the 14th seeded Zheng Jie of China and Taiwan's Chan Yung-Jan 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
"I mean, our name is carved on this trophy. It's pretty cool," said a delighted Mattek-Sands, who slipped to 258 in the singles rankings after injuring her hip last year. "This trophy at least started in 1922, I think. It's got a lot of great names on there. We get to add ours now." They beat five seeds to clinch the title and in doing so became the first unseeded women's duo to claim the Australian crown since Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva in 2012.
They were also the first new pairing to win a women's Grand Slam title since Dinara Safina and Nathalie Dechy at the US Open in 2007. Safarova said they got together after her coach and Mattek-Sands' husband, who are good friends, suggested they give it a go. They had no doubles practice together before they went on court for their first round match, but clicked with good communication the key to their successful partnership.
"It's hard to describe the feelings. It's like such a huge happiness, because to be a Grand Slam champion, it's just the best that you can have," said the Czech. "I really enjoyed the whole two weeks. It's a boost of confidence for future doubles and singles. I think we played amazing matches here."