Top-seeded Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova win the women's doubles at the Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Taylor Townsend of the United States returned to the court on which her career first took flight, teaming with Katerina Siniakova to beat Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the women's doubles final Sunday at the Australian Open.

“This is super-special to me,” Townsend said. "The last time I played on this court I was 15 and in 2012 I won the juniors here and that was the kick-start.

“Honestly, being here is so special to me because this tournament was the beginning of me being able to live out my dream.”

Top-seeded Townsend and Siniakova of the Czech Republic led 6-2, 5-3 and served for the match for the first time at 5-4 in the second set. But third-seeded Hsieh and Ostapenko rallied to take the second set in a tie-break and to hold an early break in the third.

Taylor and Siniakova were able to fall back on proven teamwork on crucial points. This was their third Grand Slam together: they won Wimbledon last year and reached the semifinals of the US Open.

They were also able to exploit a hint of weakness on Hsieh's serve with Ostapenko at the net, breaking her four times in the match including in the ninth game of the final set. Siniakova then served out the match, with Townsend providing the finishing touch at the net.

The match was played in warm conditions on the Australia Day national holiday. The temperature was around 22C (71.6F) mid-afternoon and the court was warm, causing the ball to skip through quicker, particularly from the left-handed Townsend.

Siniakova and Townsend raced to a 5-1 lead inside 30 minutes and while Hsieh managed to hold at 5-2 in the best game of the set, Siniakova held to love to close out the first set in 37 minutes.

Win or lose Siniakova was going to extend her stay atop the WTA doubles rankings to 136 weeks, the fifth-best run of all-time. She has reached the semifinals or better at the last five grand slams.

The second set, much the same as the first, began with Ostapenko and Townsend holding serve, then Hsieh was broken at 2-1.

Ostakpenko held at 2-3 and there was noticeable lift in intensity from the third seeds, a recognition of the importance of the moment and they managed to break Townsend to level at 3-3.

But another Hsieh service break gave Townsend the opportunity to serve for the match at 5-4 but again, Ostapenko and Hsieh rallied to level at 5-all. Hsieh then managed a crucial hold with Ostapenko occasionally starting at the back of the court, rather than at the net.

Siniakova's hold sent the set into a tie-break in which Ostapenko and Hseih picked up two points off Townsend at 5-4 and 6-4 to level the match.

The complexion of the game had changed and the third seeds were able to break Siniakova for the first time in the opening game of the third set, though Siniakova and Townsend immediately broke Ostapenko to level at 1-all.

Hsieh was broken again in the ninth game and this time Siniakova didn't miss.

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Katerina Sinikova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. pose with their trophy after defeating Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Katerina Sinikova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. hold their trophy aloft after defeating Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Katerina Sinikova, right, of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. jump with their trophy after defeating Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Hsieh Su-Wei, left, of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in action against Katerina Sinikova of Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Hsieh Su-Wei, left, of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in action against Katerina Sinikova of Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Katerina Sinikova, right, of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. in action against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Katerina Sinikova, right, of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. in action against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Katerina Sinikova, right, of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. in action against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Katerina Sinikova, left, of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. in action against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Katerina Sinikova, right, of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. react during the women's doubles final against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Katerina Sinikova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend, left, of the U.S. in action against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Katerina Sinikova, right, of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. in action against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Katerina Sinikova, right, of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. hold their trophy aloft after defeating Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)