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‘Really Glad’: Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens Reach Massive Heights With Australian Open 2021 Triumph

Published 02/19/2021, 2:49 AM EST

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via Reuters

The women’s doubles event at the Australian Open 2021 has concluded, and the tennis world has its newly crowned champions! Crowd favorites, Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka, raced to clinch the title by defeating Czech players, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, in straight sets.

Mertens and Sabalenka have been simply clinical throughout the tournament, and their hard work has finally paid off. The 2021 Australian Open title is the second Grand Slam victory for the Belgian-Belarusian pair, as they also won the US Open 2019. 

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It wasn’t an easy challenge for Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens when they took on Krejcikova and Katerina in the finals. The Czech pair had won two Grand Slams in 2018 and came into Australian Open 2021 as the #3 seeds. 

Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens reach new heights with their triumph

Krejcikova and Siniakova lost the match partly due to their nerves. They racked up eight double faults in the finals while their opponents didn’t commit any. Meanwhile, Sabalenka and her teammate served up five aces, four more than their opponents. 

The 6-2, 6-3, win also awarded special recognition to Sabalenka and Mertens as they soared to become the #1 ranked WTA team in women’s doubles. The pair just dropped two sets throughout the course of the tournament, and so it is a well-deserved achievement.

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The Australian Open 2021 champions finished the match in just 1 hour and 19minutes as Sabalenka’s mighty serves and Mertens’ composed striking handed them the victory. 

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks and I want to thank everyone who made this tournament possible,” Mertens said after the win. “Thanks to my partner and we didn’t have fans for a couple of days and I’m really glad they are back.” 

via Reuters

Furthermore, Sabalenka confirmed the decision to put her participation in doubles events on partial hold. The 22-year-old wants to focus on getting better in the singles, but she will pair with Mertens to play a few WTA 1000 and 500 events and not Grand Slams. 

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Written by:

Arjun Athreya

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Arjun Athreya is a senior writer at Essentially Sports and has been contributing since early 2020. Having developed an avid interest in sports at an early age, he pursued a Journalism degree and graduated from Madras Christian College. Arjun manages the Golf division and its content, and primarily covers news pertaining to the NBA as well.
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