MELBOURNE, Australia – No.1 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova had to come from behind to beat Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, and move into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Women’s Doubles draw.
The WTA’s top-ranked doubles players had eased through their opening two rounds without dropping a set but were forced to take their game up a level against the Belgian-Belarusian combination, who broke serve three times to ease to the opener.
A fast start in the second was crucial for the hopes of the doubles specialists, who jumped into a 3-0 advantage that they did not give up.
There had been eight breaks in the opening two sets, but the decider proved to be an altogether tighter affair.
The first seven games all went with serve, with little hint the deadlock might be broken. However, the Czech pairing took command by breaking Mertens and saw off stern resistance in what proved to be the final game as they picked off their fourth match point to progress.
Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai will be their opponents in the quarterfinals after they beat Alizé Cornet and Petra Martic, 7-5, 6-3.
Earlier, No.2 seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic had an altogether more straightforward passage through to the last eight as they eased past Kristin Flipkens and Johanna Larsson, 6-1, 6-4.
There was also a victory for Jennifer Brady and Alison Riske, who will face No.7 seeds Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching, after shocking No.4-ranked Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke, 6-3, 6-4.
