<p>Laura Siegemund said she was filled with mixed emotions after capturing the US Open women's doubles crown with Russia's Vera Zvonareva on Friday, the day of her aunt's funeral.</p>.<p>Siegemund's aunt, Helga, the twin sister of her mother, died from cancer nearly three weeks ago when the German was in New York ahead of the US Open.</p>.<p>"Today was her funeral, my parents came from that to watch the match. They missed the first couple games because of that," Siegemund, 32, told reporters.</p>.<p>"There were a lot of things going on in my head. I mean, she's 65. That was no age (to go). My cousin is my age. I cannot imagine what's going on in her head right now.</p>.<p>During the trophy presentation following Siegemund and Zvonareva's 6-4 6-4 win over third seeds Nicole Melichar and Yifan Xu, the German pointed upwards and blew a kiss to the sky.</p>.<p>"Some things are more important than career. When it comes to family, and you cannot be there in the last moments at a funeral, that's hard," added Siegemund.</p>.<p>Siegemund said her aunt's death had put her in a difficult position and while she wanted to be with her family, she did not want to leave Flushing Meadows midway through the tournament.</p>.<p>"I feel this is one of the biggest sacrifices because I don't want to just leave the tournament and say, I'm going home because this is more important. It's my job to be here. It was really hard," she said.</p>.<p>Siegemund said she missed receiving a congratulatory text from Helga after securing her first Grand Slam doubles title.</p>.<p>"She always wrote me nice texts. She would have texted me something for sure. I just feel like I know she's watching and I wanted to say something," she said. </p>
<p>Laura Siegemund said she was filled with mixed emotions after capturing the US Open women's doubles crown with Russia's Vera Zvonareva on Friday, the day of her aunt's funeral.</p>.<p>Siegemund's aunt, Helga, the twin sister of her mother, died from cancer nearly three weeks ago when the German was in New York ahead of the US Open.</p>.<p>"Today was her funeral, my parents came from that to watch the match. They missed the first couple games because of that," Siegemund, 32, told reporters.</p>.<p>"There were a lot of things going on in my head. I mean, she's 65. That was no age (to go). My cousin is my age. I cannot imagine what's going on in her head right now.</p>.<p>During the trophy presentation following Siegemund and Zvonareva's 6-4 6-4 win over third seeds Nicole Melichar and Yifan Xu, the German pointed upwards and blew a kiss to the sky.</p>.<p>"Some things are more important than career. When it comes to family, and you cannot be there in the last moments at a funeral, that's hard," added Siegemund.</p>.<p>Siegemund said her aunt's death had put her in a difficult position and while she wanted to be with her family, she did not want to leave Flushing Meadows midway through the tournament.</p>.<p>"I feel this is one of the biggest sacrifices because I don't want to just leave the tournament and say, I'm going home because this is more important. It's my job to be here. It was really hard," she said.</p>.<p>Siegemund said she missed receiving a congratulatory text from Helga after securing her first Grand Slam doubles title.</p>.<p>"She always wrote me nice texts. She would have texted me something for sure. I just feel like I know she's watching and I wanted to say something," she said. </p>