Siegemund and Zvonareva hold off former champions in Cancun
No.6 seeds Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva registered a gritty victory in their first round-robin match of the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun on Tuesday, outlasting No.4 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-7(6), [10-5].
Siegemund and Zvonareva are now 1-0 in the Mahahual Group after shaking off a stunning second-set comeback by the all-Czech pairing. Krejcikova and Siniakova, who won the 2021 WTA Finals and were runners-up last year, begin group play 0-1.
WTA Finals: Scores | Draws | Order of play
In the only previous meeting between the two duos, Krejcikova and Siniakova beat Siegemund and Zvonareva at the 2021 Gippsland Trophy after losing the first set 6-3. History nearly repeated itself before Siegemund and Zvonareva squeaked out the match in 2 hours and 7 minutes.
On Tuesday, Siegemund and Zvonareva led by a set and a double-break at 6-3, 5-2 before the seven-time Grand Slam-winning tandem of Krejcikova and Siniakova made their move. Siegemund and Zvonareva served for the match three times in the second set, but the Czechs broke on each of those occasions to line up a tiebreak.
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In the second-set breaker, Krejcikova and Siniakova battled back from double match point down at 6-4, saving one match point with a stirring 24-shot rally won by a court-splitting Krejcikova forehand winner.
But in the decisive 10-point match-tiebreak, Siegemund and Zvonareva quickly charged to a commanding 6-1 lead. They garnered two more match points after a Zvonareva volley put them ahead 9-4, and a winning volley by Siegemund eventually gave them the victory.
Siegemund and Zvonareva, who captured the 2020 US Open title in their very first event as a partnership, won three titles and returned to the US Open final this year. Those successes in 2023 paved the way to their first WTA Finals qualification as a pair.
The Tuesday evening doubles match was interrupted by rain and suspended overnight with No.2 seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens leading No.8 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 7-5, 2-0.
