Hunter and Siniakova win Dubai to capture first doubles title of the year

DUBAI — No.4 seeds Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova won their first title of the 2024 season at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, defeating No.3 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 6-4, 6-2 in the final on Saturday. The victory is Hunter’s eighth career doubles title and Siniakova’s 23rd.

Hunter and Siniakova won their first title together in a one-off pairing at 2022 Berlin, but the two former No.1s have teamed up for the 2024 season to form a formidable pair. Siniakova parted ways with long-time partner Barbora Krejcikova in the off-season and Hunter forged a similar path, splitting with Elise Mertens. 

Hunter and Siniakova needed just two tournaments together to capture their first title of the year. The Australian-Czech duo did not lose a set in Dubai, defeating Kato/Sudjiati, Aoyama/Krunic, and No.2 seeds Dabrowski/Routliffe to make Saturday’s final. 

Little separated Hunter and Siniakova and Melichar-Martinez and Perez through the first set. Neither team generated a break point until the eighth game of the match. Facing down a deciding point at 3-4, Perez misfired on a double fault to give the eventual champions the only break of the set. 

With Siniakova patrolling the net and Hunter stepping in on baseline exchanges, the duo rode their momentum through the second set. Melichar-Martinez and Perez were unable to break serve in the match. Hunter and Siniakova broke in the opening game of the set and protected their lead to seal the win after 1 hour and 16 minutes. 

Siniakova and Hunter dominated the deciding points in the match, converting on three of four in the match. 

Melichar-Martinez and Perez were competing in their second final of the season, having made their first earlier in the month in Linz. The American-Australian duo was bidding to snap a seven-match losing streak in tournament finals.

Siniakova and Hunter will now head to America to compete at next week’s Cymbiotika San Diego Open before turning to the back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open. 

More to follow…