Siniakova, Townsend to Face Hsieh, Ostapenko in Australian Open Doubles Final

MELBOURNE, Australia — Top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend will face No. 3 seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko in the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after both teams secured hard-fought semifinal victories on Friday.

Siniakova and Townsend overcame a first-set deficit to defeat unseeded Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3. Meanwhile, Hsieh and Ostapenko ended the eight-match winning streak of No. 2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe with a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 victory.

The Czech-American duo of Siniakova and Townsend, who won Wimbledon last year, are seeking their second Grand Slam title together. Hsieh and Ostapenko, playing in just their second tournament as a team, are aiming for their first trophy after losing their opening match in Adelaide earlier this month.

“It was definitely a tough match, but even in the first [set], we were up, we were doing great, we just missed a few opportunities,” Siniakova said after the match. “We were really fighting every point, and I think the team spirit was really great. We supported each other, and I think that’s why we won.”

Hsieh and Ostapenko, who saved three set points in the first set, dominated the third set, dropping just five points in their service games. “I felt like in the third set we just forgot the second set and tried to play our game,” Ostapenko said. “It was a very tough match, they played very well, but I think we were very happy with the way we were playing.”

Hsieh, a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion, is seeking her eighth title with a fifth different partner. Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open singles champion, is aiming for her third Grand Slam doubles title after winning the US Open last year with Lyudmyla Kichenok.

The final will take place on Sunday, January 26, at Rod Laver Arena.