Mertens and Zhang Capture Aussie Open Women’s Double Title

Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai won their first major doubles title as a team on Saturday in Melbourne, 7-6(4), 6-4 over Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic.

Mertens, who will rise to No.1 in the WTA Doubles rankings on Monday for the 40th week, wins her sixth major doubles title, and third in Australia (also 2021 with Sabalenka and 2024 with Hsieh).

Zhang, who will return to the Top-10 next week, captures her third major doubles title (also 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open with Sam Stosur).

The Belgian-Chinese tandem broke serve six times and rallied from 4-1 down in the opener. They raced out to a 5-0 lead in set two before being reeled back to 5-4, letting two championship points slip at 5-2.

Mertens and Zhang were playing together for just the seventh time at tour-level. This was their first major appearance as a team since their runner-up performance at Wimbledon in 2022. They saved three match points in the second round against the all-teen pairing of Iva Jovic and Victoria Mboko.