Sania-Hingis go down fighting in semi-final of Cincinnati Masters

Cincinnati: The Indo-Swiss tennis combine of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis lost their women’s doubles semifinal, to crash out of the $2,701,240 Cincinnati Masters, following a three-set defeat here. The top seeds were upset 4-6, 6-0, 6-10 by the unseeded Chinese Taipei’s sister pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan in an hour and 14 minutes on the outdoor hard courts of the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Saturday. With the win, the Chan sisters levelled their head-to-head to 1-all, having lost to Sania and Martina in Toronto earlier this year. [caption id=“attachment_2404298” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Martina Hingis (L) and Sania Mirza. Getty[/caption] In a topsy-turvy first set, service games were broken almost regularly. But the Chan sisters clinched four breakpoints to that of Sania and Martina’s three to take the lead in the match. The Indo-Swiss combine made a brilliant comeback to win six consecutive games next up and bag the second set. Sania and Martina earned three breakpoint opportunities and converted each to race into the third set. But when it mattered, the unseeded Chinese Taipei pair came good to win the super tie-break 10-6 and advance to the finals of the tournament, to be played on Sunday. Indian men’s doubles specialists Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes lost their respective quarterfinal matches on Friday. IANS