Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva romped past third-seeded Xu Yifan and Nicole Melichar 6-4, 6-4.© AFP
First-time doubles duo Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva won the US Open women’s doubles on Friday, defeating China’s Xu Yifan and Nicole Melichar of the United States in straight sets in the final. Germany’s Siegemund and Russian partner Zvonareva had never played doubles together before this year’s US Open. However, the unseeded pairing romped past the third-seeded Xu and Melichar 6-4, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to cap a fairytale victory.
It was a third major doubles title for the 36-year-old Zvonareva, who won the US Open in 2006 with Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy as well as the 2012 Australian Open alongside compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Siegemund, 32, had won the US Open mixed doubles title in 2016 with Mate Pavic, but had never won a women’s doubles title.
Siegemund and Zvonareva had been on a giant-killing run in New York, dumping out seventh seeds Victoria Azarenka and Sofia Kenin in the second round before eliminating defending champions Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals.
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