MELBOURNE, Australia -- The world No. 1 tandem of Argentine Gisela Dulko and Italian Flavia Pennetta battled back from a set down on Friday to capture the 2011 Australian Open women's doubles title.
Playing in their first Grand Slam doubles final as a team, Dulko and Pennetta outlasted the 12th-seeded duo of Belarusian Victoria Azarenka and Russian Maria Kirilenko 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
In 2010, Dulko and Pennetta were the leading doubles team, winning seven titles and finishing runners-up twice. They had a 17-match winning streak.
In addition to the 11 WTA doubles titles she has won with Pennetta, Dulko has won six more doubles titles with six different partners. Meanwhile, Pennetta has won 14 WTA doubles titles with four partners.
Dulko became the first Argentine woman to win a Grand Slam title since Paola Suarez, who won the last of her eight doubles titles at Roland Garros in 2005.
Pennetta was the first Italian ever to reach a final in any of the five main events at the Australian Open.
Azarenka and Kirilenko were playing their first Grand Slam tournament together.
With the victory, Dulko and Pennetta split $450,000.
