Black, Ullyett in Australian Open upset

Black, Ullyett in Australian Open upset

KELVIN Ullyett and Wayne Black with their trophy

• Mugabe gives Coventry diplomatic passport

• Zim rolls out red carpet for Coventry

• Your shouts on Coventry's victory

• Coventry unites nation

• Mugabe leads tributes after Coventry stunner

• Zimbabwe heroine Coventry wins Olympic gold

• Heroine Coventry clinches second medal for Zim

• Coventry wins Olympic silver

• Cara Black basks in Wimbledon glory

By Simon Cambers

MELBOURNE - Zimbabweans Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett upset second seeds Bob and Mike Bryan 6-4 6-4 to win the Australian Open men's doubles on Saturday.

The fifth seeds broke the Bryan twins once in each set to clinch their second grand slam title, completing victory without dropping a set in the tournament.

Having broken for 3-2 in the second set, Ullyett held his nerve to serve out for victory, the pair taking the title on their fifth match point.

"I'd like to dedicate this victory to my father (Robert), and to Wayne's father (Donald)," Ullyett said.

"I lost my father in October and Wayne lost his four years ago on the same day.

"He used to get me out of bed from the age of five. He always gave me a big push. I know Wayne's dad was the same. Without them, we'd maybe not have pursued tennis.

"It's just a pity that he wasn't here to see us win another one."

After breaking once to win the first set, the fifth seeds repeated the feat in fifth game of the second before forcing two match points on Mike Bryan's serve at 5-3.

The Americans saved both but at 5-4 Ullyett moved to 40-0 on his serve and the Zimbabwean pair thought they had won the title when a return was initially called out, only for the umpire to overrule.

The Bryans saved a fourth match point but Black and Ullyett finally clinched victory.

"That last game... I was celebrating and then had to do it all over again," Ullyett said.

"The first (grand slam, the 2001 U.S. Open) was great, I think. But this one, we've backed it up with another one, feels really good to me."

Black, the Wimbledon mixed doubles champion with sister Cara, said their rivalry with the Bryan twins was good for the game.

"It's fun playing them," he said. "We've got to be at our best to play them. I think maybe they have to be as well. We just have some great battles.

"They're definitely great for the game of doubles. Definitely the last couple of years, I think they've actually taken doubles up a notch or two and everybody's had to try and catch them a little bit.

"They bring so much energy to the court and if we can just rival that energy with them, it makes for great encounters. So hopefully we'll be having a lot of bashes with them over the years."

After a short rest, Ullyett teamed up with South African Liezel Huber to end Martina Navratilova's bid for a 59th grand slam title in the mixed doubles.

The fourth seeds beat Navratilova and Belarussian Max Mirnyi, the seventh seeds, in a match tiebreak to set up a clash with unseeded Australians Scott Draper and Samantha Stosur in Sunday's final.

Draper, who made his professional golf debut in the Victorian Open on Friday, could have faced a difficult choice had he qualified for Sunday's third round at Woodlands.

Fortunately for Stosur, a two-over-par 74 in the second round left him on nine-over-par and he missed the halfway cut -- Reuters
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
ozzie@newzimbabwe.com