Elise Mertens wins the Masters in doubles
Paired with Veronika Kudermetova from Russia, the tennis player from Leuven won the doubles title at the WTA Finals. She is the first Belgian to win in doubles at the Masters.
This year, the finals of the WTA, a tournament that brings together the best female doubles tennis players, were held in Fort Worth, Texas. Reaching the final for the second year in a row, Elise Mertens found herself up against the same pair that beat her in 2021 when she was paired with the Taiwanese player Hsieh Su-wei.
With her new Russian partner, Veronika Kudermetova, Elise, who hails from Leuven (in the province of Flemish Brabant) took her revenge against the Czech players, Barbora Krejčiková and Kateřina Siniaková. The Belgian-Russian pair managed to defeat the defending champions after an extremely close match lasting one hour and 42 minutes and ending with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 11-9.
Elise Mertens has therefore won the 17th title (including 3 Grand Slam titles – the US Open in 2019, the Australian Open in 2021 and Wimbledon in 2021) of her career in doubles and the second title of the season after her victory in Dubai, also with Kudermetova.
The 26-year-old, who also has seven singles titles, has become the first Belgian to win the doubles at the WTA Finals. As a reminder, Kim Clijsters won the singles title three times (in 2002, 2003 and 2010) and Justine Henin did the same in 2006 and 2007, also in singles.
Congratulations to this Belgian player who has achieved one of the best performances of her career!