Tokyo: Indo-Czech pair of Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova thumped China’s Chen Liang and Zhaoxuan Yang 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets to win the Pan Pacific Open women’s doubles title in Tokyo.
Mirza-Strycova, the No.2 seeds, finished of the game without any major trouble and in the process, needed just 52 minutes to triumph 6-1, 6-1 to secure their second title together after their Cincinnati Open win. It must be recalled that just before the Cincinnati Open, the World No. 1 women’s pair of Mirza-Hingis had split and these results suggest that it didn’t disturb Sania’s winning streak that greatly. The Indo-Czech pair overcame their US Open quarter-final exit and looked completely at ease during the match today.
This is Sania’s 40th career doubles title, 2nd with Strycova and third Pan Pacific Open title in four years. She won the tournament in 2013 and 2014 with Zimbabwean Cara Black as partner. The 29-year-old Indian didn’t participate in the tournament in 2015.
Starting their partnership with elaan, Sania and Strycova won the Cincinnati Open title with a 7-5 6-4 win in the final against the Indian’s previous partner Martina Hingis and Coco Vandeweghe, but couldn’t do much at the US Open this year as the Indo-Czech pair of Sania and Strycova.