Russians win Australian Open women's doubles
JUSTIN BERGMANJUSTIN BERGMAN, Associated Press?
?Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, left, and compatriot Vera Zvonareva, right, pose with the trophy, surrounded by ball boys after winning their women's doubles final against Italy's Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Sarah Ivey)
Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, left, and compatriot Vera Zvonareva, right, pose with the trophy, surrounded by ball boys after winning their women's doubles final against Italy's Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Sarah Ivey)
Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, left, and compatriot Vera Zvonareva, right, hold the trophy after winning their women's doubles final against Italy's Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)
Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, front, and Vera Zvonareva hug after winning their women's doubles final against Italy's Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Sarah Ivey)
Italy's Sara Errani, left, and Roberta Vinci, play a shot against Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva, in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012.(AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)
Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, right, and Vera Zvonareva talk during a break as they play Italy's 'Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Sarah Ivey)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva of Russia captured the Australian Open women's doubles title on Friday, beating Italian duo Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, and Zvonareva are both known primarily for their singles play, although each has one previous Grand Slam doubles title with a different partner.
The unseeded duo hadn't played together since the French Open last year.
"We were a last-moment sign-up for doubles and I think we were pretty good at it," Kuznetsova said to the crowd at Rod Laver Arena after the match.
Errani and Vinci were playing in their first Grand Slam final together. Their previous best result was reaching the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open last year.
The Italians started off strongly, breaking the Russians four times to win the opening set. But they only converted one of 13 break chances the rest of the match, wasting five break points in the final game of the third set alone.
"I think we had chances in the beginning of the second set. We lost three games with 15-40 when they were serving. Also in the last game, we had some balls to make the break but we didn't make it. It happens," Errani said.
Kuznetsova and Zvonareva are the first unseeded pair to win the Australian Open women's doubles title since Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko did it in 2008.
Zvonareva previously won the 2006 U.S. Open with Nathalie Dechy, and Kuznetsova captured the 2005 Australian Open with Alicia Molik.
Associated PressPeople, Places and Companies: Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci, Rod Laver, Kateryna Bondarenko, Nathalie Dechy, Alicia Molik, Australia, Russia
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