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Kubot, Lindstedt Win Australian Open Men's Doubles Crown

Jan 25th 2014

The European duo of Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt are the Australian men’s doubles champions after outclassing the duo consisting of American Eric Butorac and South Africa’s Raven Klaasen on Rod Laver Arena. The new pair of Butorac and Klaasen may have suffered from their lack of experience together as they were outplayed by their European opponents. There was very little that separated the two teams, but what separated them counted for a grand slam title as Butorac and Klaasen struggled to keep up with the intensity of the 14th seeds.

The fact that either of these two teams was in the final is a small phenomenon, especially with the presence of the legendary Bob and Mike Bryan as well as teams containing capable and reasonably high-ranked singles players in the draw. However, Kubot and Lindstedt showed tonight that the doubles game is built on the relationship between two players and how they complement each other’s shot-making.

Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt

While it is the small facets of the game that separate winning and losing teams, it makes all the difference. The returning game of Kubot and Lindstedt was superb as they drew Butorac and Klaasen into long service games, making their own service games feel a lot easier. Their patience and their ability to create opportunities set them apart as they converted two of their break points while offering Butorac and Klaasen only a single chance in total. Service games on Butorac and Klaasen’s racquet would take up to five minutes, while Kubot and Lindstedt’s serve was lucky to last one minute. Kubot and Lindstedt’s scrambling was also outstanding as they forced their opponent to make one extra stroke.

Their composure at the net also set Kubot and Lindstedt apart from their opponents as they pounced on anything remotely retrievable. Butorac and Klaasen let the frustration get to them emotionally during the second set, and this perhaps demonstrated how far they have to travel to consistently compete with the great doubles combinations.

After the match, Butorac and Klaasen were not too disappointed by losing to the 14th seeds. “They didn’t give us much of a look today,” they said. “It was one of those matches where you walk away feeling it’s hard to really be that upset. They hit balls hard to get every point started. Our looks were few and far between.”

And they admitted to being stunned by the level produced by Kubot and Lindstedt. “Right now it’s more shock than anything,” Klaasen reflected. “We certainly know we could have played a better match and we’ll get some footage of that and have a look at it later to really see what’s up. Because at the moment we look at each other and we’ve got (no idea) about how tonight’s match went wrong.”

Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen

But they were justly proud of a breakthrough tournament where one of their victims was the No. 1 team of the Bryan brothers. “Beating the team that’s No. 1 opens up your thought process to endless possibilities of results,” they said. “And that match was a huge boost for us as a team, so we came off the court and felt that we can do this. And regardless of the result today, we felt like we are on a good road here.”

Robert Lindstedt credited the winning team’s coaches for the win. “I think they're doing a great job. It's Nicklas Kulti, Magnus Norman, Simon Aspelin, Mikael Tillström. Peter Carlsson is also there,” Lindstedt said.

But he also wished Swedish tennis was about the singles rather than the doubles. “We're in a pretty bad position right now,” Lindstedt said.  “I say to all the reporters back home that I'm happy there are a few headlines about me, but I'd rather there be about singles players because that's what we need”.

Lindstedt acknowledged how much it meant to both Kubot and him to win the Australian Open crown. “It means the world to me. I even messed up the speech and everything. Lukasz (Kubot) is such a good tennis player,” he said.  “He's got a singles career, too. For me, this is all I've got. I've been working so hard for this. Fighting injuries and working with the right people back home, trying to find ways to make this happen.”

It was a night that none of the four men involved will forget for a long time.  Not expecting to arrive at this stage, they made the most of their moment in the spotlight.