Champions of 2011: Gisela Dulko/ Flavia Pennetta – Australian Open Women’s Doubles
Argentinean Gisela Dulko was born on the 30th of January 1985 into a Hungarian descent. At the age of twelve she moved from Argentina to Miami, Florida in order to pursue her career in Professional tennis and is currently
coached by her brother Alejandro.
She took the road to professional tennis in 2001 and is regarded as a doubles specialist. Although, her singles career is not as decorative as her doubles, she still has managed to bag three WTA titles. Her first ever singles title
was achieved by defeating Sorana Cirstea in the final match in Budapest. She further moved on to clog her second WTA title at Forest Hills in 2007 by flabbergasting Virginie Razzano in the title match. The Argentine won her last WTA title on 4thof
May, 2008 at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse lalla Meryem which took place in Fes, Morocco.
Dulko won three grand slam titles as a junior in the doubles event; she bagged the US Open with Maria Emilia Salemi in 2000, Wimbledon Championships in 2001 with Ashley Harkleroad and in 2002 she clogged the Australian Open with
Angelique Widjaja.
Although, Dulko had a very successful junior career, in the professional world she touched the lime light pairing with Italian Flavia Pennetta for the first time in 2006.
Flavia Pennetta was born on the 25th of February, 1982 and was introduced to tennis at the age of five by her father. She touched cloud nine at the age of seventeen when she won the 1999 French Open in girls’ doubles
with her fellow compatriot Roberta Vinci. Even though, she is a doubles specialist, she has had a fairly consistent singles career and is ranked in the top 20 female players of the world.
The two were no strangers to victory prior to their meeting but after their initial pairing in 2006, the two embarked on a journey to success as they crossed their first milestone by bagging the title at Bogotá. The duo took time
in finding their rhythm and they saw a seesaw ride as a pair in 2006 and 2007, although, the furthest they advanced in 2007 was when they reached the semis in Charleston. In 2008 the pair never played or contested side by side each other.
A turn of events took place when they rejoined hands in 2009 and out of the five events they played alongside each other, they were titlists in Hobart and Bastad. They then saw a run to the final in Bogotá and Stuttgart and made
a final semi-final appearance in Acapulco – which all proved that together they were an indestructible force.
In 2010, they took on board their first grand slam event and expertly managed to make it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. They further reached round of sixteen at Indian Wells and marched to the championship in Miami,
Rome and Stuttgart until their 17 match win streak was finally put to an end during the Madrid final. Moreover, the two were named the top doubles team of the year when they won the 2010 WTA Tour Championships.
By endearing their first Grand Slam title together at the 2011 Australian Open Dulko and Pennetta finally managed to fill the one crack in their epitome, losing only one set en route to their 11th title as a duo.
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