New York, Sep 10 (IANS) The unseeded duo of Germany's Laura Siegemund and Croatia's Mate Pavic defeated the seventh-seeded American pair of Coco Vandeweghe and Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-4 to win the US Open mixed doubles tennis title.
The European pair on Friday won their maiden Grand Slam event in their first-ever tournament together.
All four players were seeking their first major title, while Vandeweghe was the only player who had previously played in a Grand Slam final, having finished runner-up in the 2014 Australian Open mixed doubles event, reports Efe.
"I mean I'm just stunned a little bit at this point. I'm very happy. I think we played a great match today. We did play a great tournament," Siegemund said in the post-match press conference.
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"All the other matches were very solid also in the important situations, although we never played together," she added.
The Americans dropped serve on an unforced volley error by Vandeweghe in the ninth game, giving Siegemund and Pavic the opening they needed to wrap up the first set in 36 minutes, although not before squandering a 40-0 lead in the final game.
The second set began with Ram and Pavic both losing their serves, although the Croatian made amends with some outstanding volleying that put Vandeweghe under constant pressure.
Pavic's play at the net paid dividends when the European duo broke Vandeweghe's serve to go ahead 4-3 in the second set.
A few games later, the Croatian confidently served out the match to secure a winners' check of $150,000, which is to be divided equally between the two.
Ram, who won the mixed doubles silver medal at the Rio Olympics along with partner Venus Williams, and Vandeweghe will share $70,000 in prize money.
--IANS
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