In Melbourne, traditionally, in addition to the struggles in the individual tournament, there is also competition in the women’s and men’s doubles. The doubles match between Miriam Kolodziejova/Marketa Vondrousova and Beatriz Haddad Maia/Shuai Zhang had an amazing course. The latter pair was already leading 5-0 and 40-0 in the decisive third set, but it did not give them a victory.
“My forehand was a fluke” – Kolodziejova on defending the match ball
However, the Czech duo, which had previously defended nine match balls, advanced to the 1/8 finals. The first took place in the second set, which was decided in a tiebreak – then the Brazilian-Chinese duo was already leading 1-0 in sets after winning 6-3 in the first set. The Kolodziejova/Vondrousova pairing held out and led to Game 3 with an 11-9 tie-break score. – My forehand was a fluke. I didn’t want to play it like that, but the ball flew exactly on the line – the first of them revealed after the match how she defended the third match ball.
In the decisive set, the pair of highly ranked singles players Haddad Maia (WTA 17th) and Zhang (WTA 26th) quickly gained a high lead. It seemed that the match was heading towards a quick end, as the scoreboard was already 5-0 and 40-0 for this pair. The Czechs led to balance. In Grand Slam tournaments in doubles, games are played for advantage and the next point gave another match ball. It has not been used.
Tired Czech women have done the impossible
The next Brazilian-Chinese duo had to wait a long time, because there was an improbable “comeback” of rivals. The Czechs won five games in a row and led to an equalizer. Everything, as in the second set, was decided by a tie-break. It was played point for point. In the decisive part of it, the ladies suddenly started to win points on their serve with confidence, and Haddad Maia/Zhang had another chance to advance to the next round.
However, it was this duo who broke first and lost a point on their serve. This turned out to be decisive as the Czechs won the last ball and the entire tie-break 14-12. The whole match lasted over two and a half hours, but the pair of Kolodziejov/Vondrousov will play for the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Both Czech women are fighting in Melbourne with health problems. On Saturday, Vondrousova lost a very difficult and long match against her compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova. Previously, she defeated Ons Jabeur, the world’s two. Kolodziejova, on the other hand, had a high fever due to a tooth infection and had to use antibiotics. “I was very tired after the second set. But when we won those two games to 2-5, I felt it was getting better. I saw that the opponents broke some balls and that we had a chance. That gave me a kick. Anyway, I felt much better than during the first round match – said Kolodziejova after the match.
The contestant herself could not believe in her success. – I’ve never experienced that in my life. The fact that I was losing 0-5 and 0-40 and we had a second serve is unbelievable. The courts are very fast, new spades have appeared and the opponents have had many opportunities to finish her off. Plus, they served pretty well. I understand we kept our serves, but Haddad serves fast enough and good enough, and Shuai was great at the net, so it was very difficult to break them, but we managed anyway.”
The Czech couple Kolodziejova/Vondrousova will play with the duo Kostjuk-Ruse for the quarterfinals.
Source: Sport
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