MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – The Latest on Sunday from the Australian Open (all times local):
5:40 p.m.
Croatia’s Mate Pavic now has two Grand Slam titles within 24 hours after winning the Australian Open mixed doubles.
Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski, left, and Croatia’s Mate Pavic kiss their trophy after defeating Hungary’s Timea Babos and India’s Rohan Bopanna in the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Pavic and Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski combined to beat Rohan Bopanna of India and Timea Babos of Hungary 2-6, 6-4, 11-9 under a closed roof at Rod Laver Arena.
Pavic teamed with Austrian Oliver Marach to win the men’s doubles title on Saturday night in the match that followed the women’s singles final.
It was the second career major for Dabrowski after she became the first Canadian woman to win a Grand Slam title at last year’s French Open, when she combined Bopanna to win the mixed doubles.
It was the first tournament together for Dabrowski and Pavic, and they hadn’t dropped a set on the way to the final.
Babos, who won the women’s doubles title on Friday, and Bopana were seemingly in control of the final which was played indoors after organizers enforced the tournament’s extreme heat policy as the temperature neared 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
But Pavic and Dabrowski recovered to level the match in the second set and then raced to a 6-3 lead in the deciding extended tiebreaker.
The momentum swung again when Bopanna and Babos won four consecutive points to edge to a 7-6 lead, but Pavic and Dabrowski grabbed it back to clinch the tiebreak 11-9.
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4:05 p.m.
Roger Federer will attempt to win his 20th Grand Slam singles title when he plays Marin Cilic in the Australian Open final on Sunday night.
Federer, the defending champion at Melbourne Park, is also vying for his sixth title here.
The Swiss star owns an 8-1 head-to-head record and defeated Cilic in straight sets in last year’s Wimbledon final, although Cilic was affected by blisters in that match.
The mixed doubles final will open play Sunday at Rod Laver Arena. Rohan Bopanna of India and Hungary’s Timea Babos will play Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Croatia’s Mate Pavic.
On Saturday, Caroline Wozniacki won her first Grand Slam title and took the No. 1 ranking from Simona Halep with a three-set win over the Romanian player in the women’s final.
Hungary’s Timea Babos, left, and partner India’s Rohan Bopanna hold their runner-up trophies after losing to Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Croatia’s Mate Pavic in the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Switzerland’s Roger Federer smiles as he talks with his team during a practice session at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Federer will play Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the men’s singles final on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and fiance’ David Lee with her Australian Open trophy, the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. Wozniacki defeated Romania’s Simona Halep 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in Saturday’s final.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
In this photo released by Tennis Australia, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and her father Piotr pose for a photo with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after winning the women’s singles final against Romania’s Simona Halep at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (Fiona Hamilton/Tennis Australia via AP)
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