Sania, Hingis pocket title

Indian Wells, Mar23: Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza have completed a dream first tournament together, beating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Open women’s doubles title.

The No 1 seeds, Hingis (Switzerland) and Mirza (India) didn’t lose more than four games in any set all fortnight. After cruising through the first set, they fell behind 2-4 in the second to No 2 seeds Makarova and Vesnina. But they flipped the script from there with four straight games to end it 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.

Hingis has won 11 Grand Slams in the team discipline (nine in women’s and two in mixed) while Sania has claimed three Grand Slams (all in mixed) — and their doubles partnership was eagerly awaited in the tennis circuit. “This is something we were hoping for,” Hingis said after the win.

“She hits a big forehand, especially on the right side, and I can move and finish off the point. She prepares, I finish. That’s pretty cool to me,” she added.

Hingis expressed her satisfaction at the performance of the pair in the tournament. “I’m very happy we made this move. Obviously, we had partners we played well with, like me last year with Flavia, and changing was a big move. I’m very happy it worked out, because you never know what to expect. Winning the tournament in our premier, it’s new energy, and hopefully we can keep it up,” Hingis said.

Mirza echoed Hingis’ sentiments but admitted that she didn’t expect to win in such a dominating fashion. “On paper, obviously we are supposed to be a good team, but it doesn’t always turn out that way when you step on the court,” Sania said. “So, we’re really happy we weren’t just able to win, but win in such dominating fashion, not losing a set and being down just two times in the whole two weeks.”

Sania was asked what makes them such a good team in terms of strategy on the doubles court. “She’s one of the best people who can complement the way I play,” the Indian said. She’s got probably some of the best hands in the world at the net. For me, I need that. I need someone who can finish the balls off where I set them up. And that’s really it. Like I said, on paper everything looks great, but you still have to go out there. Names don’t do anything. You have to go out and win.”

In the men’s singles, world number one Novak Djokovic crushed Britain's Andy Murray 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to set up a mouth-watering final against number two Roger Federer.

Federer defeated Canada's Milos Raonic 7-5, 6-4 to reach his 40th ATP Masters 1000 final and earn a repeat of last year's epic final where he lost to Djokovic in three sets.