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Venus-Serena win Aus Open doubles crown

January 30, 2009 12:24 IST

Venus and Serena Williams won the 2009 Australian Open women's doubles title, beating Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Japan's Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Melbourne on Friday.

The tenth-seeded American sisters captured their eighth Grand Slam doubles title in the process, having also won the Australian Open in 2001 and 2003.

The Williams sisters had things their way as they won the first set in just 38 minutes under a closed roof on centre-court.

The second set was a bit closer as the pairs exchanged breaks six times in nine games before the Williams clinched victory. They broke Sugiyama's serve for a 4-3 lead and then sealed the title by breaking Hantuchova.

Serena, 27, has a chance to win her 10th Grand Slam singles title when she takes on Dinara Safina of Russia on Saturday.

The sisters won the women's doubles gold medal at last year's Beijing Olympics.

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