No.4 seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens defeated defending champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the WTA Finals doubles final on Monday night.
The Kudermetova-Mertens duo rallied from 7-2 down in the match-tiebreak to defeat Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 4-6, [11-9] and win their second team title of the season in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
“It’s difficult to say right now because of all the emotions. But I believe we are so happy and proud of our team “According to WTA.com, Kudermetova said.
“Last year, I came close. In this tournament, I believe we performed admirably. And, yes, I still can’t believe we won. That 7-2 super-tiebreak? I can’t even remember specifics “Mertens explained.
Kudermetova and Mertens committed three fewer unforced errors and converted all three breakpoints. Kudermetova and Mertens were the first to take the court in the final. They used powerful returns to break the defending champions twice in a row and take a 4-0 lead before easing to a one-set lead.
The Czech pair dominated the rest of the second set, winning the next two games without dropping a point. The Czechs cruised ahead after a forehand winner by Krejcikova put them up 7-2 in the match-tiebreak.
At 9-8, Krejcikova and Siniakova saved a championship point, but a powerful Kudermetova crosscourt forehand gave her team a chance at 10-9. A powerful Mertens return forced a Krejcikova volley wide, and Kudermetova and Mertens had won the match.
“When it was 2-7 in the tiebreak, I told Elise that we need to believe, stay positive, and no matter what happens, we keep working,” Kudermetova said.
“I think it finally clicked this week. Some weeks it doesn’t click, and some weeks it does, and this week we took advantage of our opportunities “Mertens elaborated.
