 The spirited sisters found some unity to hit back for victory |
Unseeded Ukrainian sisters Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko took the Australian Open doubles title with a three-set win over Shahar Peer and Victoria Azarenka. The Kharkov-based duo hit back to defeat Israel's Peer and Azarenka of Belarus, the 12th seeds, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
"Last year we didn't play very good doubles because sometimes we fought on the court," Alona said.
"But now we are starting to listen to each other and understand each other, and maybe that's the key."
It was the first time the sisters had won a doubles title in their 38th tournament playing together.
Their previous best was reaching three semi-finals in WTA Tour events.
They had the chance to serve for the match at 5-2 but were broken before sealing victory on their first match point at 5-4 when Azarenka hit a backhand return into the net.
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