Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic played a master class yesterday to upset world No. 1 Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the WTA Finals women’s doubles decider at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The world No. 3 held the edge throughout to triumph 6-4, 7-5 in one hour, 24 minutes. Babos defended her crown, having won last year’s WTA Finals women’s doubles with Andrea Hlavackova.
Babos and Mladenovic qualified for the decider after a pulsating semi-final, defeating Ashleigh Barty and Coco Vendeweghe 10-8 in the super tiebreak set.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The first tournament of the season, we won a slam [the Australian Open] and the last tournament of the season, we won... It’s a privilege,” Mladenovic said after the match.
The Hungarian-French pairing closed in on championship glory by breaking in the fifth game of the second set, but Babos was unable to consolidate.
Babos upped her game in the 11th game to break Siniakova’s serve, and then Mladenovic held her nerve to close out the championship match.
Even though they fell short in the final, the Czechs had already secured the world No. 1 ranking.
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