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The top-ranked Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis beat the 6th seeded sibling pair of Hao-ching Chan and Yung-jan Chan of Chinese Taipei 6-7, 6-1, 10-8 at the China Open in Beijing today.
No aces were hit during the course of the three-setter, with Mirza and Hingis committing 3 double faults to their competitors’ 2. Coming back from a set down, the Indo-Swiss pair stormed into the game in the second, winning each of their first serves in that set and breaking their competitors’ serve twice.
The final set went into what is known as a super tie-breaker, which is used in lieu of a final set when competitors are tied at one set all, as was the case in today’s final. When this happens, the player or team that wins the super tiebreaker takes victory overall.
Prior to today’s victory, the pair defeated the Chinese pair of Chen Liang and Yafan Wang in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, in what was an entirely dominant, one-sided match.
The pairs have faced off 4 times prior to today’s final, with the Indo-Swiss pair taking victory in 3 of those matches. They most recently met at Wuhan in China this year in the semi-finals; Mirza and Hingis would go on to take that title, as they did at Guangzhou. This is their second hat-trick of WTA event victories after they took consecutive victories at Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston. It is also their 8th WTA title this year.
They have also won two Grand Slams this year – Wimbledon and the recently concluded US Open, the former of which took them to the World No. 1 ranking.
The two share a warm relationship off-court as well, which doubtless adds to their on-court chemistry, as they have been near-unbeatable all year, enjoying a purple patch in form.
They recently said that they are aiming for a Slam sweep next year as they look to take victory at all four Grand Slams.
