BEIJING -- Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo captured their first WTA 1000 doubles title after defeating Chan Hao-Ching and Giuliana Olmos 3-6, 6-0 [10-4] in the final of the China Open.
The title is Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo's second as a team, fourth of their respective careers and first of the season.
Unseeded in the tournament, Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo lost two sets on their way to the title. After defeating French Open champions Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu in the first round, they ousted Yuan Yue and Wang Xiyu, Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez, and Luisa Stefani and Ingrid Gamarra Martins to make their first WTA 1000 final.
Chan and Olmos had not lost a set before the final in Beijing, including a straight-set win over top seeds Elise Mertens and Storm Sanders. Having linked up after Wimbledon, the team advanced to their first final in their seventh event together.
Setting the tone early doors in the final ⚡️
— wta (@WTA) October 8, 2023
Marie Bouzkova | #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/MUxwd2MdG1
Chan and Olmos dominated the final early, maintaining consistent return pressure top generate break points in all but one of Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo's service games. They were rewarded with two breaks of serve, closing out the set with ease.
"I think at the beginning we were doing the things not bad," Sorribes Tormo said, "but they were doing better because they are very good doubles player, and we are not playing doubles that much, so they do things better than us. We were trying to find our game, our style. That's why I think in the second set we kind of found it.
"We were trying to say each other, Keep it simple, keep it simple, keep going for what we have to do, doesn't matter if they were moving a lot or not."
Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo stormed back on the strength of their improved returning. Chan and Olmos went from converting 70 percent of their first-serve points in the first set to just 27 percent in the second set. After getting broken twice in the first set, Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo did not face a break point in the second set to quickly force a match-tiebreak.
There, Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo continued their dominance. After building a 5-2 lead, they eased through the remainder of the tiebreak to seal the biggest doubles title of their careers.
First WTA 1000 title: UNLOCKED 🔓🏆🎉
— wta (@WTA) October 8, 2023
Marie Bouzkova & @sara_sorribes are your @ChinaOpen doubles champions!#ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/qUtICXxZs2
"Just enjoy the moment, because that's our main strength is that we enjoy so much," Bouzkova said. "We just try to find the way to fight for every point and give ourselves the best chance as we can in the moment. I think that's what we did pretty much the whole week here or anywhere that we play.
"I think that's something that we enjoy so much or I enjoy so much, from Sara and her team. It's just like a pleasure to experience every single day and every single match."