Kuznetsova, Zvonareva win

ByReuters

Updated 27/01/2012 at 10:15 GMT

Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva ground down the Italian pairing of Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani 5-7 6-4 6-3 to win the Australian Open women's doubles title.

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva of Russia pose with their trophy next to Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani of Italy after their women's doubles final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 26, 2012

Image credit: Reuters

The unseeded Russians captured the decisive break in the second game of the third set at Rod Laver Arena and survived five break points before closing out the match on the third match point.

The win secured the Fed Cup team mates their first grand slam doubles title in their first tour final, though each had won major doubles titles separately.

Kuznetsova won the 2005 Australian Open with Australian Alicia Molik, while Zvonareva won the 2006 US Open with France's Nathalie Dechy.

Australian Open