Krejcikova and Siniakova roll to second Wimbledon doubles title

In a Wimbledon women's doubles final between the No. 1 vs. No. 2 seeds, second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova were crowned champions. In their second career championships appearance on Centre Court, the Czechs beat top-seeded Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-4 to win their second Wimbledon title. 

The win is also the pair's fifth all-time Grand Slam doubles title and second this year. They also won this year's Australian Open title, defeating Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia in the final. They previously were champions at the All-England Club in 2018.

"Playing [a] Wimbledon final, I think it doesn't really matter what category you play, you always get goose bumps when you entering the court," Krejcikova told reporters after the match. 

"I think for us, we really like to play on a big court, so I think we really enjoyed the atmosphere. From very first point we really, really wanted to win. I'm really proud of us, that we managed to do that and that we get another trophy."

WTA Doubles World No.1 Mertens was bidding to defend the Wimbledon title she won 12 months ago alongside Hsieh Su-wei with first-time Wimbledon finalist Zhang, who was seeking her third Grand Slam doubles title. Having first played together three years ago, the pair was unbeaten in completed matches their grass-court reunion this summer; they gave Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko a walkover in the final of the Rothesay Classic Birmingham, but otherwise had eight victories. 

Match management: Krejcikova and Siniakova lost just one set in winning the title: In the quarterfinals, they rallied from being blitzed by No. 10 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez to win, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. The theme of the fortnight continued in a comprehensive performance against Mertens and Zhang in 66 minutes.

They faced brief adversity in the second set, when they lost serve for the first time in the match at 3-3 to trail by a break, but quickly regrouped to win three straight games.  

"We're just trying to show our best every time we step on the court," Siniakova said. "As Barbora said, we are really, really happy that we could play on the Centre Court and that we could win it."

Rising to the occasion: It was the first Wimbledon women's doubles final between the Top 2 seeds in seven years; No. 1 seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza defeated No. 2 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in 2015. 

Krejcikova and Siniakova now own a 17-3 all-time women's doubles record at Wimbledon after winning the junior title at the All-England Club in 2013. They've also won Roland Garros twice in the last five years. In the 2022 Grand Slam season, though, they'll now look forward to the US Open, the only major title they have yet to win. 

"For sure we have many goals. I think the main goals are the Slams, really want to do well there," Krejcikova added. "I think just in general just improving, getting better, getting to know each other more, trying to improve our game, our game style. ... In doubles, but also in singles because we are both also singles players.

"I think we just want to keep going, keep having fun, just try to be better player and better person every single day."