Pattaya: The Indian-Australian pair of Sania Mirza and Anastasia Rodionova got the better of Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan of Chinese Taipei 3-6, 6-1, 10-8 to win the WTA Pattaya Open women's doubles final here on Sunday.
The match that lasted for over 1 hr 5 minutes saw the Indian ace and her partner in tough situation after they lost the first set 3-6. Sania-Rodinova came back strong in the second set and brushed aside their rival’s challenge without much sweat as they beat the Chan duo 6-1 with ease. However, the tie-breaker was nerve-wrecking as the Chan duo fought their heart out and it was only after much hard work that Sania and Rodionova were able to rope in the title by beating their rivals 10-8.
Meanwhile, defending champion Daniela Hantuchova had to sweat it out against Maria Kirilenko but managed to beat her rival 7-6, 6-3,6-3 for the women's singles crown.
Hantuchova was in for a minor shock in the first set as Kirilenko stretched her to the tie-breaker and won the set 7-6 (4-7). But thereafter, Hantuchova took the match in her grip and won the second set 6-3. Hanutchova was in mood to let the title slip her grip and gave no chance to Kirilenko to come back in the game and roped in the final set by 6-3. The match lasted for 3 hrs 14 minutes.
