Australian Open 2016: hard battle and victory in WD

"This match was an even better today, we felt each other a lot better than last week. It was not an easy opponent, they had an interesting style, they played through the hat. I am glad that we managed to win in two sets! I’m looking forward to the next round"- said Timi.

The Hungarian-Slovenian pair didn’t play well last week in Sydney...In Melbourne they started badly, but they managed to win the debut match in 81 minutes.

In the 31-minute opening set the 4th seed pair lost their service game at 1:1...Dushevina and Siniakova led 40-0 as a receiver, and they lived with the third chance. Fortunately, Timi and Srebotnik came back very well, they broke the opponent to 30, then to 15. So, they led 4:2.

And it was enough. The 4th seed pair hold the break advantage, at 5:3 they won their service game to 30. They won the third set point.

The second act also brought an interesting battle. Dushevina and Siniakova led 2:1, and pulled away 40-0 as a receiver. Timi and Srebotnik saved a total of 4 break point, but the fifth chance was enough for the opponent...

The Hungarian-Slovenian pair broke back immediately, then came a tied game.

After 5:5 Timi and her partner broke the opponent again, then they hold their service game. So they advanced to the second round.

The 4th seed double will meet Hsieh Su-Wei and Oksana Kalashnikova in the second round.

The 30-year old Taiwanese player is ranked 32nd in doubles, her career best position was 1 (12 May 2014). So far, she has won 17 WTA and 20 ITF event in this genre. With Shuai Peng from China she remained unbeaten in 2013 at Wimbledon and at the WTA Finals and in 2014 at the Roland Garros.

Last season Hsieh was a finalist in Doha (Qatar, 731 000 USD, hard court, Co: Sania Mirza), and reached the last four in Brisbane (Australia, 1 000 000 USD, Co: Mirza) and Cincinnati (United States, 2 400 490 USD, hard court, Co: Chuang Cha-Jung). She was a quarter-fianlist in Madrid (Spain, 4 059 850 USD, clay, Co: Flavia Pennetta), at the Roland Garros (France, Grand Slam event, clay, Co: Pennetta) and at Wimbledon (England, Grand Slam event, grass, Co: Pennetta). At The Championships Hsieh and Pennetta lost against Timi and Kristina Mladenovic (5:4, 3:6, 6:4).

The 25-year old Kalashnikova is ranked 75th, her career best was 43 (30 September 2013). So far, she has won 2 WTA and 25 ITF event in doubles. Last year, she celebrated in Bucharest (Romania, 250 000 USD, clay, Co: Demi Schuurs) and in Contrexeville (France, 100 000 USD, clay, Co: Danka Kovinic).