France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert, left, and Nicolas Mahut, right, play during their men's doubles final loss to Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith) (The Associated Press)
MELBOURNE, Australia – Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli became the first all-Italian team to capture a Grand Slam men's doubles title in more than 50 years after beating French pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-4 in the Australian Open final on Saturday.
The last Italians to win a men's doubles title at a major were Nicola Pietrangeli and Orlando Sirola at the 1959 French Open.
Fognini and Bolelli had come close before, reaching the semifinals at the 2011 U.S. Open and 2013 Australian Open.
Mahut and Herbert were playing in just their third event as a combination and had never won a match together before the Australian Open.
They were attempting to become just the sixth all-French team to win a Grand Slam doubles title, and the first since 2004.
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