LONDON, Great Britain -- A former WTA Doubles World No.1 and the next WTA Doubles World No.1 triumphed in the women’s doubles final at Wimbledon on Sunday.
Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic and Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei claimed the title, as the No.3 seeds eased past No.4 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Xu Yifan of China, 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and six minutes.
"Oh, my God, there is no word to describe the feeling," Strycova said, in their post-match press conference. "It's kind of like unreal. But in the same time it's amazing."
It is the first Grand Slam title in women’s doubles for Strycova, who will rise to WTA Doubles World No.1 in the WTA doubles rankings for the first time in her career as a result.
Read more: Barbora Strycova captures WTA World No.1 Doubles ranking
"I can't thank [Hsieh] enough to help me pick up No. 1," Strycova stated. "It feels, again, unreal. It's amazing. It was my goal at the beginning of this year, that I want to become No. 1. It was a really big goal. It happens right now, especially here at this moment, this tournament, my favorite place. It's a fairytale. It has been two weeks of amazing moments I will never forget."
Hsieh, who reached the WTA Doubles World No.1 ranking in 2014, earned her third women’s doubles major title, alongside her wins with Peng Shuai in 2013 Wimbledon and the 2014 French Open.
Hsieh and Strycova had a magical event, reaching the final without dropping a set, then claiming their third win in three meetings against Dabrowski and Xu, who were each in their first-ever women’s doubles Grand Slam final. Dabrowski has won two Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles.
"From the first moment we step on the court together, we just laughed and we just enjoyed," Strycova said, regarding their fantastic fortnight. "We kept it through the whole tournament. I think that was also the biggest key [why] we were playing the way we played."
"Champions together"@BaraStrycova and Su-Wei Hsieh close out this year’s Championships by winning the ladies’ doubles title, beating Dabrowski/ Xu 6-2, 6-4#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/kS09XJTbgC
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2019
In the final, the champions won over 70 percent of points off of their opponents' second serves, and they converted four of their six break points during the encounter.
"We were flying everywhere, catching the ball back as well," Hsieh told the press. "It was really fun. We needed to try so hard to win every point."
Fiery winners by Hsieh led to an early lead for her team, breaking Dabrowski’s serve at love to go up 3-2. The player from Chinese Taipei continued to hit wondrous shots, firing multiple lob winners to hold her own serve and consolidate for a 4-2 advantage.
Big Strycova returning then helped her duo attain a second break, this time when Xu was serving, to go up 5-2. Serving for the one-set lead, the Czech initially fell behind 0-30, but a Hsieh backhand winner and two aces pulled Strycova to set point, which she claimed after a Hsieh putaway concluded a rally.
Hsieh and Strycova kept their momentum going, breaking Dabrowski to open the second set, but Dabrowski and Xu upped their aggression, firing back with strong returns and sturdy volleys to break back for 1-1. However, the leaders struck again, as a Strycova putaway led to a third consecutive break to start the set, as she and Hsieh went up 2-1.
Both teams then had to fend off multiple break points, at 3-1 and 3-2 respectively, but there were no more breaks of serve for the remainder of the tilt. Serving for the match at 5-4, Hsieh sent a lob long on her first championship point, but an overhead error into the net by Dabrowski set up a second chance. There, a long return by Dabrowski gave Hsieh and Strycova the Wimbledon crown.