Ukraine's Bondarenko Sisters Win Women's Doubles Title

Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko won the 2008 Australian Open Women's Doubles Title. The Bondarenko Sisters--sound like they ought to be 40s era showgirls, entertaining the troops or something.

Kateryna is more well known, having hovered inside the top fifty singles rankings for the last few years. Although she and older sister Alona have been around a while, they just started playing doubles together last year, as they explained in the post-match presser:

Last year we play not very good doubles because sometimes we fight on the court. But now we start to listen each other and understand, and maybe that's the key

The Bondarenkos used charmingly broken English to describe the thrill of winning and the placement of the nose rings (all-important tennis question, about the nose studs)

Q. What does this win mean to you both?

ALONA BONDARENKO: We don't know yet.

KATERYNA BONDARENKO: Yeah, probably not really know yet that we won a Grand Slam. I mean, we know, but ‑‑

ALONA BONDARENKO: ‑‑ we don't understand it.

Q. Is it pretty tough competition against each other since you know how each other play so well?

KATERYNA BONDARENKO: Yeah, I don't like to play against my sister.

ALONA BONDARENKO: Yeah, for me it's not easy because she play like more winner, good serve, good shots. For me it's very tough because she knows me and can easier win with me.

Q. An important fashion question for you. Why does one have a stud in your nose on one side and the other one on the other side?

KATERYNA BONDARENKO: That's because she saw that I have on one side and she decide to do the same thing, the other side.

ALONA BONDARENKO: I do it later, like one year later than her.