SINGAPORE: Indian ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black ended the season and their partnership on a remarkable high by clinching the season-ending finale with a comprehensive triumph in the summit clash on Sunday.
Sania and Cara, making their debut at the year-end championship, prevailed 6-1 6-0 over Su-Wei Hseih of Chinese Taipei and Shuai Peng of China in a clash that lasted just about an hour.
In a completely lop-sided contest, third seeds Sania and Cara did not concede a single break point to their second-seeded rivals.
The Indo-Zimbabwean combination, which would be breaking up after this, broke the East Asians thrice in the opening set and were decisively better with their first serve.
Sania and Cara were even more dominant in the second set, breaking Hseih and Peng thrice again to race away with the match and the title.
In their two previous matches, Black and Mirza negotiated dramatic finishes, saving match points in both.
“That’s tennis, it gives you another chance. You’ve got to fight and this just proves it, and today we won the tournament. It’s been an amazing ride, an amazing journey,” Sania said after the win Sania and Cara first teamed up at the end of 2013, winning their first two events together, in Tokyo and Beijing.
However, Cara, who has two-year-old son, recently announced that she would sit out the 2015 season to spend more time with her family.
“We started off with a bang and now we’re ending with a bang. We’ve had such an amazing year and had so much fun and built a great friendship, which is so special too. It’s sad that this is our last tournament, but it’s great to have these moments to share,” the Zimbabwean said.
It’s Sania and Cara’s second win in a row over Hsieh and Peng, having lost to them thrice early in the season.
Sania will pair with Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hseih in the 2015 season.