Number 1 seeds Barbora Krejikova and Katerina Siniakova beat Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens 6-3 6-4 in 1 hour and 18 minutes to lift their first WTA Finals doubles title.
Siniakova clinched her year-end WTA Doubles World number 1 ranking, overtaking Hsieh Su-Wei at the top when the new WTA Rankings are released.
Siniakova and Krejikova won their fifth WTA doubles title this season, including their third Grand Slam title at Roland Garros and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo plus the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne and the Madrid Mutua Open. They finished runner-up to Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in their first appearance at this tournament in 2018.
They won their three round matches before beating Nicole Melichar -Martinez and Demi Schuurs in the semifinal. Krejikova and Siniakova, who dropped just four games when they beat Hsieh and Mertens during the round robin group, fended off five of the six break points. The Czech doubles team won 65% of their second serve points and converted three of their ten break points.
Both teams went on serve until Mertens dropped her serve at 3-2. Hsieh and Mertens pulled back on serve in the next game. Krejikova hit a drop volley winner to earn a second break. Siniakova converted the set point in the next game with an overhead winner.
Siniakova earned an early break in the opening game with her backhand. Krejikova and Siniakova held on their serve until 5-4. Siniakova saved a break point with a volley before sealing the win with an error-forcing drop volley on the second championships point.
“I think it was a really good day day for us. I think we did everything the best way we could. I was really happy that our game style was working and that everything we said was working. I just think that we were a really good team out there today. It’s very special to get the trophy from Martina Navratilova, who we look up to. She is a really big hero for us. The whole day was just amazing. I really enjoyed”, said Krejikova.
