January 31, 2020 - Croatian tennis player Nikola Mektic has made it to the mixed doubles final of the Australian Open!
Croatian Davis Cup national team player Nikola Mektic has reached the final of the mixed doubles at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. Namely, at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Mektic and his Czech partner Barbora Krejchikov defeated Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and Finnish player Henri Kontinen 3:6, 6:3, 10:5 in the semifinal on Friday.
Mektic and Krejchikov will face American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Briton Jamie Murray, who Mektic and Polish partner Alicja Rosolska lost to back in the US Open final in 2018.
Winners are grinners!
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 31, 2020
Fifth seeds @B_Krejcikova/@NMektic are the first team through to the #AO2020 mixed doubles final after def. Dabrowski/Kontinen 3-6 6-3 10-5.#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/tOoye4HxKB
Mektic is the final Croatian representative left in the competition.
Recall, Ivan Dodig was defeated in the semifinal of the men's doubles competition on Thursday. Namely, Dodig and Filip Polasek, who were the 4th-seed of the tournament, surprisingly lost to Australians Max Purcell and Luke Saville 6:7(7), 6:3, 6:4. In the mixed doubles, Dodig and partner Latisha Chan lost in the quarterfinal to Gabriela Dabrowski and Henri Kontinen 7-5, 7-6(2).
Hungarian Timea Babos and Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic won the Australian Open for the second time in the women's doubles competition. They defeated first-seed Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbara Strycova on Friday 6:2, 6:1. Mladenovic now has four Grand Slam titles, and Babos one less.
Recall, Borna Coric was defeated in the first round of the Australian Open this year, while Petra Martic and Ivo Karlovic lost in the second round. Donna Vekic lost in the third round, while Marin Cilic lost in the round of 16. As for the doubles, Mate Pavic lost in the third round of the men's doubles with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.
The next Grand Slam tournament on the itinerary is the French Open, or Roland Garros, which begins in May.
Source: HTS
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
