Williams sisters complete Grand Slam of doubles

By Stephen Wood

Venus and Serena Williams completed a Grand Slam of doubles crowns on Friday by winning the Australian title -- but said it was no compensation for their failure in the singles.

The sisters, a wildcard entry, beat American compatriots Lindsay Davenport and Corina Morariu, the seventh seeds, 6-2 4-6 6-4 in the final on Rod Laver Arena court.

The victory, added to the 1999 French and U.S. Opens and 2000 Wimbledon, completes the Grand Slam.

Serena and Venus were both knocked out of the singles competition by top seed Martina Hingis, at the quarter-final and semifinal stage.

But their combined force proved too much for Davenport and Morariu.

The Williamses conceded an early break of serve to trail 1-3 in the deciding set, but hit back to break their opponents' serve in the sixth game and once more to close out the match after one hour, 46 minutes.

The pair claimed the winners' cheque of A$345,400 (US186,000).

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Davenport and Morariu, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday on Friday, collected AU$172,700 (US$93,000) as runners-up.

Venus said: "I want to thank the Australian Open committee for giving us a wildcard -- because our doubles ranking wasn't good enough to get us in the draw!

"But we should qualify for a ranking after this tournament, and it will be interesting to see where we enter."

Serena, who has shrugged off the bout of gastro-enteritis which had dogged her during her quarter-final singles defeat to Hingis, added: "This is no consolation at all for losing in the singles.

"We both want to be known as singles players. But you have to recognise that she (Hingis) just played very well.

"The doubles is a different competition altogether, and make no mistake, we are both very happy to have won here."

Neither could suggest another player on the WTA Tour they would like to team up with for future doubles events.

Venus said: "I can't imagine playing with anyone else but Serena.

"I think we love playing with each other. We have a great understanding -- I know that no matter what I do, Serena will always be there for me."