Tokyo: Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova thrashed China’s Chen Liang and Zhaoxuan Yang in straight sets to claim the Pan Pacific Open women’s doubles title here Saturday.
The No.2 seeds needed just 52 minutes to triumph 6-1, 6-1 to secure their second title together following their Cincinnati Open win. This is Sania’s third Pan Pacific Open title in four years. Having won the tournament in 2013 and 2014 with Cara Black, the 29-year-old had given the tournament here a miss last year.
The Indo-Czech pair took just 26 minutes to clinch the first set 6-1. They sped to a 5-0 lead and never looked back breaking their opposition thrice.
The second set started in a more even note with the scores tied 1-1 with the second seeds’ serve coming under a little pressure. Barbora’s serve went to deuce four times before the Indo-Czech combo managed to hold on to it.
However that was the last act of the straw for the Chinese pair. Sania and Barbora took the next five games to take the set 6-1 to romp to the title. This incidentally is Sania’s 40th doubles title on the WTA circuit.
Wozniacki in final
Meanwhile in the women’s singles former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki produced a spirited fightback to beat fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the final. She will take on local girl Naomi Osaka, a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 winner over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. If Wozniacki wins it will be the 24th singles title of her career.
Wozniacki, who struck back from 1-3 down in the second and third sets, ended Radwanska’s resistance on her fourth match point, forcing the Pole into a loose forehand, which she dumped tamely into the net after a 170-minute dogfight.
At times the match wasn’t pretty, but Wozniacki’s gritty display will give her confidence a further lift after battling back from a wretched run of injuries this year to reach the US Open semifinals earlier this month.
But despite coughing up the first set on a double fault, Wozniacki showed glimpses of her old form in an error-strewn match featuring 13 breaks of serves.
A whipped crosscourt forehand to take the initiative at 4-3 in the decider left Radwanska shaking her head and a full-blooded backhand drive to consolidate the break in the next game demonstrated why she used to be such a force.
“I think every time I play her we play really tough matches,” Wozniacki said in a courtside interview. “She played really well today (Saturday) and I was lucky to win that second set and then we just fought really hard, both of us, in the third.”
Agencies
