Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia have won their first doubles title together at the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating top seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-4 in Sunday’s final. The unseeded duo took out two of the Top 3 seeds to claim their victory. This is Azarenka’s 10th doubles title and fifth at the WTA 1000 level, and Haddad Maia’s fifth career doubles title and her biggest title of her career.
Azarenka and Haddad Maia, who ousted No.3 seeds and Stuttgart champions Desirae Krawczyk and Demis Schuurs in their opening round, went on to defeat Paula Badosa/Bethanie Mattek Sands and Leylah Fernandez/Taylor Townsend en route to the final. They faced down Gauff and Pegula, who were bidding to win their third title of the season after Doha and Miami. Azarenka and Haddad Maia took charge in the opening set to win it 6-1. Although Gauff and Pegula bounced back in the second set and led 4-2, Azarenka and Haddad Maia roared back to win the last four games of the match.
The eventual champions broke Pegula’s serve to close level the set at 4-4, then closed out the win by dominating play at the net and breaking Gauff’s serve in the final game. This is Azarenka’s biggest win on the doubles court since teaming up with Ashleigh Barty to win Rome in 2019. The victory capped off a stellar week for the pair in their first tournament together at Madrid, and a huge achievement for Haddad Maia, who was previously a two-time runner-up at the WTA 1000 level.
