Press Trust of India
Singapore, Nov 1: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis lifted their ninth title together this year beating the Spanish pair of Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro to clinch the WTA Finals women’s doubles trophy here Sunday.
Sania and Martina, the top seeds, prevailed 6-0, 6-3 over their eight-seeded rivals in a lopsided summit clash, which lasted little over an hour. The Indo-Swiss pairing dropped serve only once through the match and broke their opponents five times to wrap up a comprehensive victory. Muguruza and Suarez Navarro – late replacements in the draw after Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova’s withdrawal – were completely outplayed in the match. In the second game, Sania unleashed a ferocious forehand to break Muguruza. The second set was more competitive, but Sania and Martina did not let go of their supremacy and wrapped up after little over an hour on court.
“I feel like it was a perfect day,” Hingis said. “Sania just played out of her mind – she was everywhere, getting everything back and playing incredible tennis.”
This triumph is especially huge for Martina as the trophy was her 50th WTA doubles title, a milestone only 15 players have reached (Martina Navratilova, Rosie Casals, Pam Shriver, Billie Jean King, Natasha Zvereva, Lisa Raymond, Jana Novotna, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Gigi Fernandez, Helena Sukova, Larisa Neiland, Cara Black, Rennae Stubbs, Wendy Turnbull and Liezel Huber).
Sania and Martina ended the year as the World No.1 Women’s doubles team and the Indian tennis ace said a win in the WTA Finals is the perfect way to wrap off the year. “To play in tournaments like this is what we’ve fought all our lives for and it’s incredible to play in front of a packed stadium,” said Sania. “We feel very fortunate. We’ve done some amazing things together and it’s the perfect way to end the year for us,” she added.
Sania and Martina are now unbeaten in 22 matches, stretching back six tournaments. In fact, since their last defeat – to Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan in Cincinnati – they have dropped just two sets.
Sania’s titles in 2015
Tournament Partner Month
Sydney International Bethanie Mattek-Sands January
Indian Wells Masters Martina Hingis March
Miami Open Martina Hingis April
Family Circle Martina Hingis April
Wimbledon Martina Hingis June
US Open Martina Hingis August
Guangzhou International Martina Hingis September
Wuhan Open Martina Hingis September
China Open Martina Hingis October
WTA Finals Martina Hingis November