Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza have now won 26 straight matches dating back to 2015. The top ranked duo beat Germans Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-1 in the Brisbane International women's doubles final on Saturday.
Hingis-Mirza Claim Another Title in Brisbane
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza began 2016 the same way they ended 2015, with a doubles title. The top seeded team in Brisbane navigated past wild cards Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber in the final 7-5, 6-1 to claim the trophy. Hingis-Mirza have now won 26 straight matches dating back to last season's U.S. Open. They have won six titles in their last six tournaments that they have played in together.
On Saturday, Hingis-Mirza rallied from down 4-2 in the opening set to take five of the last six games. They would break their German opposition three times on six chances, while being broken twice in two chances themselves. After the drama of the opening set, the top seeds went to work quickly as they broke the Germans in the second game and rolled to the 6-1 finish. Their 26 match win streak is now the longest in women's doubles since the 1994 season when Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva went on a 28 match winning streak. Both Hingis and Mirza had fun on social media following their latest win with both posting photos with the Brisbane trophy on Twitter.
Shenzhen Shocker
The unseeded duo of Vania King and Monica Niculescu shocked top seeds Yi-Fan Xu and Saisai Zheng in the Shenzhen Open women's doubles final on Saturday. King-Niculescu dominated in the 6-1, 6-4 victory. They were only broken once as a team while serving and broke their Chinese opposition four times, twice in each set. For King, it is her 15th career WTA doubles title. Niculescu claimed her fifth with the win.
Auckland Title Goes to Mertens-Mestach
The ASB Classic women's doubles final featured a pair of unseeded teams on Saturday. Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach battled Danka Kovinic and Barbora Strycova for the title. Kovinic-Strycova had taken out third seeds Anna-Lena Grönefeld and American Coco Vandeweghe en route to the finals. Mertens-Mestach did not face a seeded opponent all tournament with both the top seeds, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, and fourth seeds, Klaudia-Jans Ignacik and Paula Kania, knocked out in the earlier rounds. Mertens-Mestach would take the super tiebreak finish over Kovinic-Strycova 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 for the title. It would mark just the second career doubles title for Mestach and Mertens very first.
Brisbane Men's Final Set
Aussie fans will be delighted to see three of the four participants in Sunday's men's doubles final hailing from Australia. Melbourne native John Peers and Finland's Henri Kontinen earned their spot on Saturday by defeating fourth seeds Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals. Peers-Kontinen are a new pairing for 2016 and have had dynamic results to start the season, winning all three of their matches this week in straight sets. The second seeds will battle the unseeded Australian tandem of James Duckworth and Chris Guccione. They got a spot in the final when Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori withdrew in the semifinals due to shoulder soreness for the Bulgarian.
Paire and Krajicek End Indian Run in Chennai
The unseeded pairing of Benoit Paire and Austin Krajicek are headed to the Aircel Chennai Open men's doubles final. The pair booked their spot on Saturday with a close 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over India's Somdev Devvarman and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. The Indian duo had a chance to serve for the opening set after breaking Paire-Krajicek to go up 5-3, but could not hold. Paire-Krajicek pumped up their service games in the second set as they hit seven aces and played the bigger points better in the tiebreak. For the set, they won just two more points than their Indian counterparts, 41-39. They take on third seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin on Sunday for the title.