Zhang and Mertens claim Australian Open women's doubles title

China's Zhang Shuai and Belgium's Elise Mertens captured their first Grand Slam women's doubles title as a team on Saturday, outlasting Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic on Rod Laver Arena to lift the Australian Open crown.

The fourth seeds, playing only their seventh event together, prevailed the seventh-seeded Kazakh and Serbian pair 7‑6(7‑4), 6‑4. A four‑game burst early put Zhang and Mertens on the front foot in the first set, they failed to convert two set points in the 12th game but dominated the tiebreak, leading 6‑0 at one stage and closing it out 7‑4. In the second set they raced to a 5‑0 advantage, weathered a stern late response, and finally sealed the victory five games later.

Their run to the title has echoes of near misses: the pair were Wimbledon runners‑up to Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova and finalists in Birmingham this season. On the way to this breakthrough they also survived a scare in round two, saving three match points to beat teenagers Iva Jovic and Victoria Mboko 7‑5, 4‑6, 7‑6.

For 37‑year‑old Zhang, it was a personal milestone, it marks her third Grand Slam doubles trophy, as she previously won the Australian Open in 2019 alongside Samantha Stosur.