By Paul Osborne

Yui Kamiji and Jordanne Whiley took the women's doubles title at the Australian Open in Melbourne ©Takeo TanumaJanuary 24 - Jordanne Whiley became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam Wheelchair title today as she, and Japanese teammate Yui Kamiji, powered to a 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Dutch second seeds Marjolein Buis and Jiske Griffioen at the Australian Open in Melbourne.


The top seeds started brightly in the opening set, dropping just four points in the first three games before taking a commanding 5-0 lead followed by the set.

The Dutch duo fought back  in the second, battling hard to take the set in a tie-breaker and level the match.

Last year's Wimbledon finalists came back strongly in the third set, however, breaking their Dutch opponents in the first game of the set to take a comfortable 3-1 lead before breaking again to lead 4-1.

The pair then served out the set to claim their first Grand Slam title as a doubles partnership and a first ever Grand Slam title for Whiley.

Jordanne Whiley became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title with her victory in Melbourne today ©Getty ImagesJordanne Whiley became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title with her victory in Melbourne today ©Getty Images



"It was a very close match and I was very nervous, so I'm very relieved and very, very happy to have finally won a Grand Slam," said British number one and world number seven Whiley,making her second appearance at the Australian Open after making her Grand Slam debut there in 2011.

"At the end of the second set I said to Yui we needed to keep hitting the ball, otherwise we would lose.

"We are planning on playing all the Grand Slams together this year and we want to win them all."

The victory was a second in successive days for British athletes following Andy Lapthorne's quad doubles triumph alongside David Wagner yesterday.

Unfortunately for Gordon Reid, British success could not stretch to his men's doubles final as the Scot, and Dutchman Maikel Scheffels suffered a 6-3, 6-3 loss to the top seed pairing of France's Stephen Houdet and Japan's Shingo Kunieda.

The loss was a first in 2014 for Reid and his partner following victories in Sydney and Melbourne in their first two tournaments of the season.

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