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Sania and Martina win Aussie Open for third major trophy

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AP

AP

Melbourne: In a perfect climax to their stupendous run, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis were today crowned the Australian Open women’s doubles champions after they tamed the spirited Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in straight sets for their 36th win in a row, here.

The top seeds fought past the seventh seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (1) 6-3 in the women’s doubles final that lasted one hour and 45 minutes.

It was their third consecutive Grand Slam title for Sania and Martina, having won the Wimbledon and US Open in the 2015 season.

In an incredible feat, Sania and Martina have now extended their unbeaten run to 36 matches, winning eight titles in a row. They won five straight titles in 2015, starting from the US Open and before the Australian Open now.

It was Sania’s second title at the Australian Open, having won the mixed doubles in 2009 with Mahesh Bhupathi.

The final though was not a stroll in the park for the world number one team with the Czechs putting up a great fight in the opening set. The match was littered with breaks with the two teams struggling to hold serve throughout.

Hlavackova was excellent from the baseline and Hradecka was terrific at the net, playing some breathtaking shots and winners.

The top seeds though had enough resources in their kitty to blunt the challenge of the Czech girls.

“I would like to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us. For me Australian Open is special, it’s like home. I have special memories here. We had an incredible one year. Martina is an amazing champion and an amazing person, so it is a privilege for me to play with her,” Sania said.

“We know how good you are (Czech team). We lost to you at Roland Garros. Hopefully we will have more finals to fight for,” Sania said.

Martina was equally effusive in her praise for the Czechs.

“They pushed us to the limit. It was s tough tournament. We will try to defend our title next year.”

In the opening set, the two pairs could manage to hold serve only twice each as it was full of breaks.

Hradecka ran frantically to her left from the net and smashed one volley past Sania off Martina’s return and then the Swiss served two consecutive double faults to hand the Czechs an early break.

The top seeds had three break chances in the next game — the fourth — on Hlavackova’s serve but the Czech team saved all.

Martina earned a fourth at deuce with a volley and converted that with a forehand passing winner.

A double fault by Sania at 30-40 gave the break back to the Czech players, who were now leading 3-2.

Hradecka sent a forehand long to give the top seeds a breakpoint and netted a backhand to make it 3-3.

There was no end to breaks with Martina dropping her serve next. Hlavackova’s unreachable backhand lob gave the Czechs a breakpoint and the Swiss sent a forehand wide.

Hlavackova’s long forehand at 30-40 meant that Sania and Martina had a break chance but Martina’s return just landed wide and it was deuce.

The top seeds though made it 4-4 with Hlavackova’s consecutive forehand errors from the baseline.

Sania went down 0-40 in the next game but saved all three break chances. A forehand to net by Sania at deuce point and the top seeds were facing another break chance but managed to saved that.

Another break chance and this time the Czechs converted to lead 5-4.

The seventh seeds came out to serve out the set but were broken.

Martina finally held her serve in the 11th game and the top seeds led 6-5, this time not allowing the Czechs to convert break opportunities.

Eventually the Czecks too held and it boiled down to a tiebreak in which the top seeds trampled their opponents, losing just one point, to pocket the opening set.

They broke Hradecka in the very first game of the second set and never looked back after that. Though Martina was broken in the sixth game but the favourites broke back for a 5-2 lead.

There was more drama as Martina was broken in the eight while serving for the match and they squandered three match points in the ninth game on Hradecka’s serve.

Sania and Martina finally closed the championship in their favour on the fourth chance.

(Agencies)

Sania-Martina earn 29th win in a row, enter final

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AP

AP

Sydney: Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis survived a scare to win their 29th consecutive match and enter the women’s doubles final of the Sydney International here on Thursday.

The Indo-Swiss tennis pair won a rain-interrupted semi-final 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 in one hour and 32 minutes to beat Romanian Raluca Olaru and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan on Court 1 of the NSW Tennis Centre.

In the process, they eclipsed the 22-year-old record set by Gigi Fernandez of the US and Natasha Zvereva of Belarus, who won 28 consecutive matches in 1994. Sania and Martina have now begun to chase the world record which was set in 1990 by the dynamic Czech duo of Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova, who won a whopping 44 matches in a row.

“Today the girls we were playing, they were playing probably the best I’ve seen them play. Slava has won Slams, before Olaru was playing really well. We had to really put everything that we had and really come out with our A Game when we needed to, especially in that super tie-break,” said Sania.

“It’s not like because we been winning so much we take it for granted really. We try every time. We’re the hunted. Everyone plays their best against us, and we have to keep playing our best as well to win.”

The world’s top ranked pair are now eyeing their second title win of the year after clinching the Brisbane International crown last week. They claimed nine titles last year en route to becoming the top ranked women’s doubles team, the highlight being wins at the Wimbledon and US Open.

On Thursday, the top pair, dubbed ‘SanTina’ by their fans, were trailing by a set, lost 4-6, and were down 1-2 in the second set when rain intervened. That helped them turn the tables upon resumption as they fought back to overturn the deficit and claim the second set 6-3 and utilised their experience to claim the decider narrowly 10-8.

The win was viewed by the ecstatic pair as an ideal preparation for their Australian Open ambitions, starting next week, which will be their third straight Grand Slam triumph if they win it. They have not lost a match since the Cincinnati Masters last year.

“This is something that I dreamed about and was hoping for. I can only say it over and over again. It’s something that it’s a priority also. When I was playing singles, singles was priority. I became No.1 there. Also simultaneously I was No.1 in both,” said Martina.

“Now I put 100 or 120 percent into this, and that’s what makes us this great doubles. The chemistry is amazing. We don’t always play super tennis, but we come out and find a solution, that’s what makes us right now the best doubles in the world.”

In men’s doubles, Sania’s compatriot Rohan Bopanna, partnering Romanian Florin Mergea, defeated Australians Sam Groth and John Peers 6-2, 6-4 in 57 minutes to enter the semi-final.

(IANS)

Mirza-Hingis Win 25th doubles match in a row

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AP

AP

Brisbane: World No.1 women’s doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their 25th match in a row, beating Andreja Klepac and Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 7-5, at the Brisbane International on Friday.

The top seeds at the Premier-level tournament faced some resistance from the No.4 seeds, who jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and, after dropping the first set, were a game away from winning the second set up 5-4.

But the Indo-Swiss pair did all the right things at all the right times and closed out the match smartly.

“I think we’re off to a great start in the new season,” Hingis said after the match.

“We never really felt like we finished in 2015 – I played the Indian league and Sania played IPTL, so we still kind of kept our routine. We’re really happy to have the possibility to be in another final, and win another title.”

Hingis and Mirza’s 25-match winning streak, which has brought them five titles in a row at the US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, is the longest winning streak since Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci’s 25 in a row in 2012.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve lost, but it’s never easy to start a new season, especially when you’re coming off such a great season. Everyone’s gunning for us – we’re the hunted,” Mirza commented.

“We’re just taking it one match at a time, staying positive, and picking up from where we left off.”

The doubles team of Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva rattled off 28 victories in a row way back to the 1994 season.

Mirza-Hingis won nine titles together last year including the Wimbledon and the US Open and ended the season as the top ranked team in the world.

(IANS)

Sania-Martina clinch WTA Finals crown

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Singapore: 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 on 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.

Before this, Sania and Martina had won eight titles (Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Beijing) and finished runner-up just once (Rome – falling to WTA Rising Stars Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic).

The Indo-Swiss pairing dropped serve only once through the match and broke their opponents five times to wrap up a comprehensive victory.

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.

Muguruza and Suarez Navarro — late replacements in the draw after Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova’s withdrawal — were completely outplayed in the match.

“I feel like it was a perfect day. Sania just played out of her mind – she was everywhere today, getting everything back and playing incredible tennis,” Hingis said.

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 number one 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.

(PTI)

Sania-Martina reach China Open semis

by

AP

AP

Beijing: The Indo-Swiss tennis combine of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis were tested but eventually made their way through to enter the women’s doubles semifinals of the $5.7 million China Open here on Thursday.

The top seeds took an hour and 20 minutes to beat the German-Czech pairing of Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova 7-6(5), 6-4 at the Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center, which was built for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The first set was an extremely close contest as both pairs earned five breakpoint chances and converted twice. This led to the tie-breaker where Sania and Martina proved a tad better to clinch it 7-5.

Julia and Karolina fought well again in the second set to break the top seeds but Sania and Martina came back strong to break the European combine twice and take home the set and match.

Overall, the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champions won 73 of the 131 points played in the match.

Sania has reached the final of this event in the last three editions, winning the 2013 title with Zimbabwean Cara Black.

(IANS)

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis bag Wuhan Open title

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mirza-hingis

Wuhan: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis continued their winning streak as they clinched the Wuhan Open title on Saturday.

The Indo-Swiss pair defeated Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to clinch their seventh title of this season.

This is the seventh title that the Sania-Martina combination has won this year. The top seeded pair had also won the Wimbledon and the US Open titles earlier in 2015. In the last month, the duo had clinched Guangzhou Open title.

(Agencies)

Sania-Martina in doubles semis of Wuhan Open

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mirza-hingisWuhan: Leading women’s doubles pair Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis entered the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open tennis tournament here on Thursday.

The top seed duo defeated fifth seeded American pair of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears 6-2, 6-2 in the last eight stage in only 58 minutes.

Sania and Hingis earlier beat Polish-Australian pair of Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.

The Indo-Swiss pair recently won the Guangzhou Open. They have won an impressive six titles together including triumphs at Wimbledon and US Open.

(IANS)

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis win Guangzhou Open title

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The dominating duo of Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis beat Chinese pair of Shilin Xu-Xiaodi You 6-3, 6-1 to win Guangzhou Open title on Saturday.

AP

AP

New Delhi: The dominating duo of Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis beat Chinese pair of Shilin Xu-Xiaodi You 6-3, 6-1 to win Guangzhou Open title on Saturday.

This is their 6th title of the year. The pair has won two Grand Slams this year (Wimbledon and US Open). The No. 1 ranked pair in the world will want to finish the year with the WTA Finals title and keep their success rolling.

Sania posted a photo of herself and Hingis on Twitter.

Sania-Martina wins US Open women’s doubles title

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sania-mirza-martina-hingis

New York: Women’s doubles top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis defeated fourth seeded Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-3 here on Sunday to claim the US Open title.

The Indo-Swiss pair took only 69 minutes to conquer the Australian-Kazakh pair at the Arthur Ashe stadium.

It was Sania and Martina’s second women’s doubles Grand Slam title together after winning the Wimbledon earlier this year and they played with supreme confidence to win the tournament without dropping a set. It was Sania’s fifth success at the Majors (two women’s doubles and three mixed doubles crowns).

Sania’s partnership with Martina has helped her become the first Indian women’s player to be ranked World No. 1 in the doubles rankings.

Sunday’s final was Sania’s first in the category here at US Open. She won the mixed doubles title last year with Brazilian Bruno Soares here.

For Martina, the tournament turned out to be a memorable won as she lifted her second trophy at the Flushing Meadows this year on Sunday, after bagging the mixed doubles crown on Friday with another Indian, Leander Paes. It was also her fifth Grand Slam title this year, and 20th of her career across all three disciplines (five singles, 11 doubles and four mixed doubles).

The Swiss now just the third active player to have 20 major trophies (after Serena Willams’ 36 and Venus Williams’ 22).

On Sunday, the top seeds quickly jumped to a 3-1 lead breaking the second service game of their opponents.

But the fourth seeds immediately broke Sania’s serve to make it 2-3.

Sania-Martina though remained undeterred to bring about the third and fourth successive service breaks to extend their advantage to 5-2.

Sania then served out the first set at 6-3 in only 31 minutes. They hit 16 winners – four more than their opponents – to claim the first set, converting three of the eight break points. Dellacqua-Shvedova could only break their opponents once.

The reigning Wimbledon champions continued their dominant return of serves in the second set and broke their opponents to take an early 2-0 lead.

As the match went on, the top seeds grew more confident and started unleashing terrific ground strokes, both cross court and down the line, to march towards victory.

But they were made to wait for the win as Dellacqua-Shvedova converted their second break point to put up a resistance and reduce the margin to 3-5.

But that only delayed the inevitable as Martina put away a volley at the net to seal the fate of the match, with the pair clinching 62 of the total 108 points played.

Sania and Martina entered the title round easing past Italian 11th seeds Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-1. Dellacqua-Shvedova defeated unseeded German-American pair of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Coco Vandeweghe 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-5 to reach the final.

“It has been a great year for us,” Sania said after the win.

“To win Wimbledon was a great year. Then to come back and back it up to win the US Open, we feel like we’re a really solid team. And we came through again today.”

“From the start, we hit it off,” Martina said.

“Our games work well together.”

(IANS)

Sania-Martina reach US Open semis

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sania-mirza-martina-hingis

New York: The Indo-Swiss tennis combine of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis earned a straight sets victory to enter the women’s doubles semi-finals of the US Open at the Flushing Meadows here.

The top seeds took just an hour and 25 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei ninth seeds Yung-Jan Chan and Hao-Ching Chan 7-6(5), 6-1 on Tuesday. They will next take on Italian 11th seeds Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta on Thursday for a place in the final.

Playing at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, the world’s top two players were equally matched in the first set by the Chan sisters. Both pairs broke the other twice which led the set into the tie-breaker where Sania and Martina lived up to their billing to take the lead in the match.

Having lost a closely fought first set, the Chan sisters were not as feisty in the second set and were broken twice to lose the second set and the match.

Overall, Sania and Martina won 70 of the 121 points played in the match and had more winners and less unforced errors.

Later, India’s Karman Kaur Thandi defeated Russian Evgeniya Levashova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to enter the girls singles third round where she will take on Hungarian second seed Dalma Galfi.

But it was the end of the road for Pranjala Yadlapalli, who partnering Mexican Jessica Hinojosa Gomez, lost the girls doubles opener 1-6, 0-6 to American pair of Tornado Alicia Black and Ingrid Neel.

(IANS)

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