Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their 36th straight match as they edged 7th seeds Lucia Hradecks and Andrea Hlavackova 7-6 (1), 6-3 in the Australian Open women's doubles final.
Mirza-Hingis Have Not Lost Since Cincinnati
Things were no where near perfect for top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis during Friday's women's doubles final in Melbourne. Their serves were broken six times in the match, including four times in the opening set during an incredible run of eight straight breaks of serve between the two teams. Their ground strokes were a shade off at times with 17 unforced errors, their second highest total of the tournament. Martina Hingis' right shoulder was out of sorts as she required multiple treatments during the match, perhaps explaining why she had such a difficulty holding serve in the championship match. At the end of the day though, the master problem solvers once again found the right pieces to the puzzle to pull off a win that sealed their third Grand Slam title together. The win marks their 36th straight dating back to 2015, where they have not lost since the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Check out Burak Busche's recap of Friday's women's doubles final for more in-depth details.
Mixed Doubles Final Set
The mixed doubles semifinals both took place on Friday. American Coco Vandeweghe is headed to her first Grand Slam final along with Romanian partner Horia Tecau. The pair shut down Andreja Klepac and Treat Huey 6-4, 6-4. Vandeweghe was arguably the most impressive player of the four as she displayed her trademark aggressiveness and power on serve and with her ground strokes to help fuel the win. Vandeweghe-Tecau won 40 of 56 points on serve and were able to fight off all five break points they faced. They were assertive when they saw break chances off Klepac and Huey. They would break them twice on four chances. Vandeweghe and Tecau combined to rack up 36 winners to just six unforced errors. Tecau will be seeking his second Australian Open mixed doubles title. He won in 2012 with another American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, as his partner.
The other half of the final will feature 5th seeds Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares. They beat top seeds Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig 7-5, 7-6 (4). It was a bright start for Mirza-Dodig as they broke their counterparts right off the bat and backed that up with a hold to lead 2-0. They would continue on serve the next five games before Vesnina-Soares would strike back with a break to even the set at 4-4. The 5th seeds would crack the top seeded duo again in the 12th game of the set to grab a 7-5 set win.
The second set went to plan with service holds by both teams through four games. By the 5th, Mirza and Dodig again had a lead. They would extend that again until the 8th game when Vesnina and Soares fought back with a break to draw even again at 4-4. A shaky 11th game handed Mirza-Dodig an opportunity to serve for the set as they led 6-5, but they could not close the deal. A break back sent the set to a tiebreak. Vesnina-Soares would take five of the last seven points to secure a spot in the final.
The Russian will be looking to lock up her first mixed doubles title after missing out on three different occasions. That includes making the 2012 Australian Open mixed doubles final where Vesnina and Leander Paes lost to Tecau and Mattek-Sands. Soares will be trying to win his third mixed doubles slam title. He won the U.S. Open twice with Ekaterina Makarova as his partner in 2012 and Sania Mirza in 2014.
Men's Doubles Final
The men's final will feature 7th seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares against the unseeded team of Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek. For Murray, it is a chance to get the monkey off his back and win a doubles slam title. Twice in 2015, Murray and former partner John Peers were denied a title in a slam final. They lost at Wimbledon to Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in straight sets and then fell to Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in straight sets at the U.S. Open. Soares will contend for his first men's doubles title as well, losing his only previous chance at the 2012 U.S. Open alongside Alexander Peya.
On the other side of the net, Murray-Soares will see a wealth of experience and slam titles in Nestor and Stepanek. Nestor has eight men's doubles titles at Grand Slams, but none since the 2012 French Open. His only win in Melbourne came back in 2002 with Mark Knowles. Stepanek has twice found slam glory in the men's doubles ranks. In 2012, he won in Australia with Leander Paes over the Bryan Brothers. He would win his second slam title with Paes in 2013 at the U.S. Open, when they denied the man he will see in this year's final, Bruno Soares, and Alexander Peya.
This is a difficult match to call. Both teams have been playing some brilliant tennis during their runs. Murray-Soares have built an instant chemistry as new partners in 2016. Nestor and Stepanek have done the same this week after having only played together on one other occasion. Both teams have been difficult to break on serve in this tournament with both playing mostly clean tennis this week.
Motivation should not be a factor at this stage, but this could literally be Nestor's last and best chance to win a big title. It has taken him nearly four years to get back to a slam final and he's unlikely to play in the Rio Olympics this year after being passed over with Vasek Pospisil set to team with Milos Raonic as Canada's top team. So if not now, then when for Nestor? This could be a three set thriller and the winner is too close to call. The men's doubles final is the last match scheduled at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night.