Olympic Champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina have ended their season on a high after defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova 7-6(5), 6-3, to win the doubles title at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
The Russian fourth seeds triumphantly saved five out of seven break points and won 65% of their service points during what was a thrilling final. Claiming their eighth title together since 2012, Vesnina and Makarova have ended their opponent’s unbeaten streak of 16 consecutive wins and have prevented Mattek-Sands from finished the year as the world No.1 doubles player.
“It was such a great match. It was really a pleasure to play against Bethanie and Lucie and to be honest we really enjoyed playing it,” Vesnina was quoted by wtatennis.com as saying during her on-court interview. “We weren’t sure until the very end that we were going to win it. It was a really, really close match.”
Becoming only the second all-Russian team to win the title in the tournament’s 43-year history (no doubles was played in the 1972 edition), the two has also become the first doubles team in history to win both the Olympic gold medal and WTA Finals title within the same season.
“This year for us has been amazing. The year-end Finals in Singapore is something we’ve been dreaming to win, so this is like a dream come true.” Said Makarova.
Singapore is the third title Vesnina and Makarova have won together this season after the Rogers Cup and Olympic Games. As a result of their latest win, they will return home with $500,000 and an extra 500 ranking points.
Mirza ends the year on top
Makarova’s and Vesninia’s triumph has also caused celebration for India’s Sania Mirza, who lost to the Russian duo (alongside Martina Hingis) in the semifinals at Singapore. The 29-year-old will end her season as the top of the WTA doubles rankings for the second consecutive year in her career.
.@MirzaSania secures #WTA Year-End Doubles World No.1 presented by #DubaiDutyFree! pic.twitter.com/rCCtVtAIFB
— wta (@WTA) October 30, 2016
This season Mirza has won eight titles on the doubles circuit, including the Australian Open. She has won five titles with Hingis, two with Barbora Strycova and one with Monica Niculescu.
