MELBOURNE: Before Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev take centre stage in the men’s singles final at the Australian Open on Sunday, top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova will face unseeded Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia in the women’s doubles final.
Krejcikova and Siniakova will be appearing in the final for the second year in a row after losing to Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s final. The Czech pair will also be attempting to take a step closer to a career slam in doubles after winning the French Open in 2018 and 2021 and Wimbledon in 2018.
Krejcikova and Siniakova also were Olympic champions last year.
They reached the final with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Belgium’s Mertens who was attempting to win her second-straight Australian Open final.
“We had to go through a lot of tough matches to get to the final, so I think I can say for both of us that we’re really proud and looking forward to the final,” Krejcikova said after the semifinal victory.
Danilina of Kazakhstan and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil beat the second-seeded Japanese pairing of Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in their semifinal. They are unbeaten in nine matches together.