2024-02-29 06:48:14
Last year’s breakup of the most successful Czech doubles pair, which reigned for a long time among the world’s tennis elite, put fans on notice. Everyone was curious to see how Kateřina Siniaková and Barbora Krejčíková would fare with their new partners. This year’s premiere title is finally celebrated by the first named. Alongside the Australian Storm Hunter, she dominated the business in Dubai.
The event from the WTA 1000 category was only their third attempt to win the title. They played the role of seeded four at the tournament and defeated the American-Australian duo Nicole Melicharová-Martinezová and Ellen Perezová in the final.
“We needed to play aggressively, serve well and put pressure on our opponents. We did exactly that, we were always one step ahead,” beamed Siniaková after the triumph, as she received her first triumph after changing partners.
The combination of two former doubles tennis No. 1s already worked in Australia, where they reached the semifinals at the Grand Slam. They also have pleasant memories of each other from two years ago, when they joined forces for the tournament in Berlin and also won the title.
That is also why Siniak admitted to the WTA Insider website that no transformation awaited her after last year’s breakup with her long-term partner Barbora Krejčíková.
“I didn’t really have to change anything. I always have to focus on my game. We’ve played together in the past, so we knew what to expect. Of course, we had to re-learn some habits, but it didn’t take long,” says the Czech tennis player
They played only the third tournament together, also because they are both trying to focus on their singles career and improving the ranking.
“The biggest tournaments remain the priority. I’m glad that it works that way for us, I enjoy my time on the court with Storm and we will continue to enjoy it,” Siniaková added.
The 29-year-old Australian is returning to qualifying for major tournaments in singles and hopes to break into the top 100. She doesn’t want to play singles because she feels that it helps her in doubles as well.
“I use it to train my movement, my strokes. I think I haven’t been as good as I am now in terms of hitting. I know that I can dare to cross the backhand, that she will have a punch and then Katka will take care of it at the net,” Hunter said.
Siniaková praises another thing. Thanks to the fact that she also maintains the singles ranking, she is currently the 43rd best tennis player in the world.
He also watched Saturday’s final in the stands, because this week in Dubai the program continues with the men’s event and the Czech tennis player participated in it. On Monday, he was eliminated in the first round with Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan, but he still managed to applaud his partner at the weekend.
“It’s great, I love it when we can meet not only at the Grand Slams and we can also support each other personally. However, I kept pushing him to improve and get to these better tournaments,” joked Siniaková.
Both she and Hunter have a tournament in San Diego this week. After that, two prestigious events in Indian Wells and Miami.