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The top-seeded women’s doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis took part in the Guangzhou International Women’s Open, a WTA International event in Guangzhou, China, beating competitors Shilin Xu and Xiaodi You, for whom it was a home event, in straight sets 6-3, 6-1. The event is played on hard courts, and both Mirza and Hingis have had significant success on the surface this year.
The Chinese pair, although underdogs, caused an upset in the semi-finals of the event, beating second seeds Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Anastasia Rodionova 7-6(5), 6-3.
Today’s victory comes on the back of a very strong season for the Indo-Swiss pair, who won two Grand Slams – Wimbledon and the U.S. Open – this year. They have also won 3 WTA tour events this year. The pair took the title at Indian Wells earlier in the year, defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets. They again beat the pair similarly at the Miami Masters soon after.
Their third WTA victory of the year came at the Family Circle Cup, where they demolished the Australian-Croat pair of Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak 6-0, 6-4.
Mirza was awarded the Khel Ratna earlier this year by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee for services to sport. Hingis, for her part, has been part of 5 Grand Slam titles this year – 3 in the mixed doubles, partnering India’s Leander Paes. Hingis-Paes took victory at the Australian Open, followed by title wins at Wimbledon and the US Open – the latter two of which Hingis also won the women’s doubles in with partner Sania Mirza.
Following the victory at Wimbledon, Mirza and Hingis took number 1 spot in the doubles rankings, which they currently hold.
Jelena Jankovic of Serbia took the women’s singles title at the event, beating Czech Denisa Allertova. Former World No. 1 Jankovic, who was seeded 4th at the event, beat the Czech convincingly, 6-2, 6-0 for the win. Allertova previously upset top seed and World No. 2 Simona Halep, who reached the semi-finals at the US Open this year before losing to Italy’s Flavia Pennetta.
Pennetta would eventually take the title at the US Open, beating compatriot Roberta Vinci, who had earlier caused the shock ouster of World No.1 Serena Williams.
Mirza and Hingis have now won their 6th title together:
