Sania-Marti storm into WTA Fils semis

Singapore, Oct 30: Reigning Wimbledon champions Sania Mirza and Marti Hingis earned their third consecutive win to top the red group and enter the semifils of the year-ending $7 million WTA Fils being played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium here on Friday.

Following their victories in the opening two round robin matches earlier this week, the Indo-Swiss tennis combine came up with another top-class performance to beat Hungarian-French fourth seeds Tímea Babos and Kristi Mladenovic 6-4, 7-5 in one and a half hours.

Playing on hard courts, Sania, who won the prestigious tourment last year with Zimbabwe’s Cara Black, and Marti earned five breakpoint opportunities in the first set. They converted one which was enough to seal the set and take the lead in the contest.

Timea and Kristi came back stronger in the second set but the reigning US Open champions once again broke the fourth seeds to win the tie and comprehensively enter the semifils.

The top seeded Sania and Marti, the only pair in the tourment to have not lost a set, will take on Chinese Taipei third seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan in the last four round. The Chan sisters finished second in the white group.

The WTA Fils is an annual event played by the top-8 players/pairs of the year who are divided into two round robin groups — red and white. The top-2 of each group progresses to the semifils and the following winners to the fils.

The championship is generally considered the fifth most prestigious event on the women’s tour after the four Grand Slam tourments. It also has the largest prize money and ranking points after the Grand Slams. IANS