Mirza-Hingis move into China Open quarterfinals
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis came back strongly from a set down to beat the Italian duo of Sara Errani and US Open singles champion Flavia Pennetta 1-6,6-4, 10-6 in a top-drawer encounter to move into the women’s doubles quarterfinals of the China Open in Beijing.
Top-seeded Mirza and Hingis were demolished in the opening set by the Italians, both primarily singles players but equally adept in the doubles. The top seeds, however, soon displayed why they are the world’s top-ranked pair, with a spectacular comeback.
In the first set, Pennetta served spectacularly, and Errani was quick-footed at the net, as they ran away with the opening set. Their opponents struggled with their service games and oncourt understanding, which had seen them win three straight doubles titles – US Open, Guangzhou and Wuhan Open – before coming to Beijing.
Mirza-Hingis bounced back in the second set, as they ran up a 3-0 lead against their Italian opponents whom they had defeated in the US Open doubles semifinals. Hingis was broken in the fourth game, but the remaining games went on serve before Mirza closed it out.
The tie break was a see-saw affair as the winning duo took the last six points in a breeze, after being down 4-6 at one point. Hingis, in particular, was sublime at the net through the tie break.
Mirza had earlier in the day tweeted that she would be playing despite a bout of flu.
Cough cough.. Sore throat 😔 #hatebeingsick #speciallyonamatchday #fightthroughit
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) October 7, 2015Mirza and Hingis, ranked number one and two in the world in women's doubles, will meet Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of Czech republic next.
In the men's doubles, India’s Rohan Bopanna and his American partner John Isner lost 4-6, 3-6 in the first round to Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Serbian Viktor Troicki. It was Bopanna’s first Tour match since the Davis Cup World Group doubles playoff defeat in September, where he had paired with Leander Paes.
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