Krejcikova, Siniakova win US Open to complete career Grand Slam

Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova made history at the 2022 US Open on Sunday, and they pulled off a comeback in the women’s doubles final on Arthur Ashe Stadium to do it.

The No.3-seeded Czechs completed the career Grand Slam in women’s doubles, fighting back from 6-3, 4-1 down to overcome unseeded Americans Caty McNally and Taylor Townsend 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Krejcikova and Siniakova have now won six Grand Slam doubles titles together. Their first US Open title completes their set, along with two Roland Garros titles (2018 and 2021), two Wimbledon titles (2018 and 2022) and an Australian Open title (2022).

"I think that the match was very difficult," Krejcikova said in press. "I felt like we were just down for a very long time. But I felt we were still in the game and we tried to fight for every single ball. Suddenly the game just started to go on our side.

"As we took the second set, I think from there on we started to be a better team. I'm really, really happy that we won this final Slam for us that we were missing. It sounds amazing that we achieved such amazing things."

The Czechs join a number of former teams who combined to win all four majors, such as Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver, Serena and Venus Williams, Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, and most recently Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

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Krejcikova and Siniakova also teamed to win the Olympic gold medal last year, giving them the career Golden Slam in women's doubles. Only four other women have done this in the Open Era: Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernandez, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

Krejcikova and Siniakova finish the 2022 Grand Slam season with an undefeated 18-0 record. Earlier this year, they won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. They were unable to defend their Roland Garros title due to Krejcikova illness.

Overall, Siniakova is up to 18 WTA doubles titles, while Krejcikova has won 13. Siniakova will return to WTA doubles World No.1 on Monday while Krejcikova, who has also been No.1 in doubles, will rise again to No.2.

Coming into the event, Krejcikova and Siniakova had never made a US Open final. That all changed this fortnight when the Czechs grabbed a semifinal win over Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez, who had reached the finals or better in their past three events. 

Krejcikova and Siniakova then held on for a win against McNally and Townsend, coming back from a deficit of a set and a break and wrapping up victory after 2 hours and 10 minutes. The Czechs won 12 of the last 14 games overall.

The Americans were aiming for their first Grand Slam title at pro level on home soil, in just their second event as a pairing. Both McNally and Townsend won multiple Grand Slam doubles titles during their junior careers.

McNally, who also reached the US Open final last year alongside Coco Gauff, and Townsend, who was in her first Grand Slam final at pro level, eased through the opener with aggressive play. They continued to press in the forecourt as they built the 4-1 second-set lead.

But the Czechs converted their fourth break point of the 4-2 game to get back on serve, and they broke McNally for a second straight time to lead 6-5 behind stellar Krejcikova returns. A Siniakova backhand winner down the middle polished off the second-set comeback.

The Czechs swept through the third set, converting all three of their break points while not facing any in the decider.

"Every time you come to a tournament, you just want to try to show your best," Siniakova said. "I would just say that we're trying to improve each other, and it's working. We're showing it on the court then. I would say that from the beginning we're just working hard.

"This tournament was really good. We were playing great. So we just took it step by step. In the end we have the title."