- Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic won the women’s doubles in Melbourne
- They beat Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena
- Victory over the second seeds in the final followed wins over fifth and first seeds
Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos claimed their first Grand Slam as a team by beating Russian pair Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets.
France’s Mladenovic and Hungarian Babos, both 24, took 81 minutes to dispatch the second seeds 6-4, 6-3 in Friday’s Australian Open women’s doubles final.
‘It’s a very amazing tournament for me with lots of memories,’ said Mladenovic.
Timea Babos (left) and Kristina Mladenovic won the women’s doubles at the Australian Open
It was the pair’s first major triumph as a team but Mladenovic’s fourth in Grand Slam doubles
They beat Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova (right) and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena
The duo, who reached the final at Wimbledon last year, were seeded fifth in Melbourne.
They overcame eighth seeds Hsieh Su-wei and China Peng Shuai in the semi-finals, after beating No 1 pair Latisha Chan and Andrea Sestini Hlavackova in the last eight.
Victory on Rod Laver Arena saw Babos win her first Grand Slam in her third appearance in a final.
Meanwhile, the win was Mladenovic’s fourth major triumph following success at Roland Garros alongside compatriot Caroline Garcia in 2016 — when Makarova and Vesnina were again beaten in the final — and mixed doubles wins at Wimbledon in 2013 and here in Melbourne in 2014.
‘It’s a very amazing tournament for me with lots of memories,’ said an ecstatic Mladenovic, 24
The champions beat the second seeds in the final after seeing off the No 1 team in the last eight