Bengaluru, September 27: Sania Mirza won her first WTA title of the season as the ace Indian and and China's Shuai Zhang beat Kaitlyn Christian and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe 6-3-6-2, in the women's doubles final at the Ostrava Open in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The second-seeded Indo-Chinese duo proved too good for the third seeded pair of American Christian and New Zealander Routliffe in the match which lasted an hour and four minutes.
Earlier, Sania and Zhang had defeated the Japanese pair Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals of the WTA 500 event.
We did it 🎉 🏆 👯♀️ #titlenumber43 #Zhangshuai #OstravaOpen pic.twitter.com/VQdoYvGMdv
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) September 26, 2021
It was the 34-year-old's second final of the season, following a runner-up finish at the WTA 250 Cleveland event in the US last month with Chirstina Mchale.
"We did it," an elated Sania tweeted with the winners' trophy.
Champions in the Czech Republic!
— wta (@WTA) September 26, 2021
🇮🇳 @MirzaSania & @zhangshuai121 🇨🇳 claim the doubles title 🏆#OstravaOpen pic.twitter.com/iMk79qrSSB
Doubles stalwarts Sania and Zhang had never teamed up before last week in Luxembourg, where they fell in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Greet Minnen and Alison van Uytvanck.
But this week, in their second event together, Sania and Zhang were commanding in the final, winning 76 per cent of points behind both their first and second serves, and staving off both break points they faced in the tilt.
Sania Wins her 1️⃣st Title in 2021 &
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 26, 2021
4️⃣3️⃣rd WTA Title overall
🇮🇳 Tennis Star @MirzaSania along with partner Shuai Zhang 🇨🇳 clinched the 🏆 at WTA 500 Ostrava Open
Many congratulations to the Duo👏👏#Tennis🎾#OstravaOpen pic.twitter.com/lhhgJQyp9m
This is former doubles world No.1 Sania's 43rd WTA doubles title of her legendary career, and her second title since she returned from maternity leave in 2020.
Meanwhile, Zhang is on a hot run in doubles, having won three of her last five doubles tournaments, including her second Grand Slam title at the 2021 US Open alongside Samantha Stosur.
Zhang is now up to 11 WTA doubles titles in her career.
Meanhile in the singles, Anett Kontaveit is back in the winner's circle in 2021, as the unseeded Estonian notched her second title of the season.
World No.30 Kontaveit powered past No.4 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece, 6-2, 7-5, to claim the crown in the Czech Republic.
The WTA 500-level event is the biggest title of Kontaveit's career and her third WTA singles title overall.
Kontaveit did not drop a set all week, and maintained her flawless play with her sixth Top 20 victory of the year over World No.12 Sakkari. Sakkari held a 5-3 lead in their head-to-head at tour-level coming into the final, but Kontaveit prevailed this time in an hour and 32 minutes.
Find the best IPL odds at 10Cric! Bet on all matches directly from your mobile phone.
Play casino in India at 7Jackpots, and enjoy real money games with fast and secure withdrawal options.