Mladenovic and Dodig cruise to Australian Open mixed doubles title

France's Kristina Mladenovic and Croatian Ivan Dodig swept to a 6-3, 6-4 victory against local duo Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler to claim the Australian Open mixed doubles crown.

Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Kristina Mladenovic of France pose with the trophy after winning the Mixed Doubles Final against Jaimee Fourlis of Australia and Jason Kubler of Australia.

France's Kristina Mladenovic and Croatian Ivan Dodig swept to a 6-3, 6-4 victory against local duo Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler to claim the Australian Open mixed doubles crown at Melbourne Park on Friday.

Playing under a closed roof on Rod Laver Arena, Mladenovic and Dodig got off to a solid start, securing a vital break at 4-3 before closing out the set after some big serving from the Frenchwoman.

 

The Australian wildcard pairing was broken again early in the second set as Dodig's exquisite play at the net proved too good for Fourlis on serve.

The 22-year-old, however, made amends right away and forced Dodig into an error to get the break back and level at 2-2.

Momentum swung back quickly to Mladenovic and Dodig, however, and they secured another break before a fine angled volley from Mladenovic gave the fifth-seeded pair its first Grand Slam title.

"We texted each other many times to play mixed. What a way to end our first time playing together," said Mladenovic.