13th title, 40th match; Unstoppable Mirza and Hingis win St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy

13th title, 40th match; Unstoppable Mirza and Hingis win St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy

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After winning the Australian Open, the Sydney and Brisbane Internationals in January, the World No. 1 duo of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis appear well on route for a fabulous 2016 after defeating Barbora Krejcikova and Vera Dushevina 6-3, 6-1 to win the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Sunday.

After surviving a scare against Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigez and Arrantxa Parra Santonja in the semi-final yesterday, 'SanTina' looked in great form in the final against the Czech-Russian pair of Barbora Krejcikova and Vera Dushevina. A cross-court smash by Hingis off Krejcikova’s return to earn the first point set the tone for the match with the Indian-Swiss pair racing away to their title.

The unseeded pair of Krejcikova and Dushevina showed fighting spirit in their first game, managing to win it after looking down the barrel at 30-40. Both pairs held their serve till the fifth game, with Mirza and Hingis leading 3-2 going into sixth. It all changed from there, as Krejcikova lost her serve to hand the advantage to the World No.1s, and they raced away to win the first set 6-3 to put one hand on the trophy.

Mirza and Hingis won a staggering 16 of their 18 first services, while the unseeded pair only managed 12 out of 19. The World No.1s also earned 7 points of possible 18 from first returns to dominate the Czech-Russian pair, who only managed two out of 18.

(Also Read: Will the Sania- Hingis phenomenon turn the spotlight on women's doubles?)

The second set had a similar story to the first as Krejcikova once again surrendered her serve to the smashing returns of Mirza and the brilliant net play of Hingis to give the World No.1 pair the lead. Dushevina also suffered the same fate as her partner after Mirza put the gave the pair a 2-0 lead as the Indo-Swiss pair looked in a hurry to finish the game. They will finish it a few minutes later, once again breaking the serve of Dushevina to finish off the match 6-3, 6-1 in 56 minutes. 

Hingis and Mirza have not lost a match since last August at the Western and Southern Opent, and now are on a 40-match winning streak having won 13 titles together with only the French Open standing between them and a possible “SanTina–slam.”

(Also Read: Why Mirza and Hingis did NOT break the world record)

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