Mirza and Hingis reach the final of China Open with a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win

This was the first meeting between these two pairs and the difference in quality was evident. Mirza and Hingis broke the Chinese pair's service four times in a row, to win the first set 6-2.

In the second set Hingis and Mirza broke in the second game and soon took a 3-0 lead. Liang and Wang, who are ranked 47 in the world currently, had a chance to break Sania's serve in the fifth game of the set, but the they failed to grab that opportunity. A game later, the duo squandered another break point, this time on Martina Hingis' serve. The Chinese pair saved a match point on their serve, in the 8th game of the set, but Sania Mirza served out the match and booked their place in the final.

Liang and Wang converted only four out of the nine break points they received in the match, and that proved to be the decisive factor in the end.

With this win, Mirza and Hingis have now extended their undefeated streak to 16 matches – the run which started from the US Open earlier this year. 

Tomorrow they will face the winner of the second semi-final which will feature either Casey Dellacqua/Yaroslava Shvedova or Hao-Ching Chan/Yung-Jan Chan. Incredibly, this will be Hingis and Mirza's fourth consecutive final and they will start as the favorites to win their 8th title this season.