In a clash of top two seeded pairs in Ladies Doubles final, top seeds Sania Mirza (IND) and Martina Hingis (SWZ) took on second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina (RUS) for a hard-fought Ladies Doubles Final. In a see-saw battle riddled with high-quality tennis, the Hingis' experience and Mirza's desire outlived the excellent Russians.
First Set ( Makarova-Vesnina 7-5 )
Sania Mirza's serve was straightaway under pressure from the Russians Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova as they routinely challenged her to break Hingis and Mirza in the very first game. But some powerful groundstrokes from Mirza at the net and stellar baseline play from Hingis earned the break right back to restore parity.
Hingis then moved to slay some excellent placement to hold, and the Russian traded in kind, with some excellent cross-court work. Mirza's service nerves seemed to settle in the next game as she traded her trademark, booming forehands from baseline. Vesnina however returned to serve big, and it was back even at 3-3. All four players seemed to be weak around the 'T' while returning.
Hingis had a good service game, but the tall Makarova returned the favor in style. 4-4. Mirza held on next, affording a little smile. 5-4 to the Indo-Swiss pair.
The Russians then combined well to hold their serve, before a great set of rallies with Makarova going deep for her powerful returns and Vesnina's adept reflexes at net helped them earn another break. 6-5 to the second seed Russians, who then held well, despite being under some pressure from Sania's baseline play to clinch the first set 7-5, the first set the top seeds conceded all tournament.
It was the percentage of winners on first serve - 71% for Makarova-Vesnina to 63% for Hingis-Mirza which made the difference. As the set wore on Vesnina seemed to get better at net interception too.
Second Set ( Hingis-Mirza 7-6 )
Everything went to script for the early part. Both pairs held serve to lock horns 1-1. But weak returning from baseline was still bothering Hingis, while Sania iffy serving meant the Russian kept up good the pressure.
Makarova staved off three break points in the fourth game with some excellent serves to keep it even at 2-2. Mirza held to love and with Hingis moving better, they put Vesnina's serve under some pressure, but it was still even at 3-3. Hingis followed up with some sharp serving, though she lost a challenge on a wide call.
While Hingis continued to change her position, remarkably standing back at baseline to challenge Makarova's net game, the Indian-Swiss pair seemed to lose a bit of ground against the aggressive net play by the Russians. Sania held serve to make it 5-4. Hingis and Mirza lost their second challenge, again by inches as the Russians restored parity to 5-5. Despite a good service game from Hingis, Makarova- who was the only one to not lose a serve all day, pushed it to tie-break.
The tie-break saw the top-seeds gallop away early to a 4-1 lead, only for Sania to concede both her serves and get back to 5-4. But at that point Hingis first engaged in a brilliant rally with Vesnina, pushing Makarova ever to slightly to her left before threading a return straight past. Mirza then repeated the dose with Vesnina, rarely allowing Makarova at net any chance. They took the set 7-6.
Third Set ( Hingis-Mirza 7-5 )
Phenomenal rally up-front from all four players made for an entertaining rally first up. While Sania upped her game at the net, Makarova and Hingis engaged in some high-class baseline battle. Makarova however, held serve - still the only player to not be broken all day. Vesnina then missed a big opportunity to put themselves a break up, missing a simple overhead volley as Sania's serve continued to misfire. Sharp work at the net from Hingis kept it 1-1.
However the Russians went after Hingis' serve and eventually some sluggish work at net from Sania Mirza, who was visibly found wanting at the net, meant the top seeds conceded a crucial break. Vesnina then held serve to make it 4-1.
Vesnina conceded three break points on her next serve before a combination of precision from her, and unforced errors from Hingis and Mirza helped them claw back. After Hingis's hold, Sania and Hingis fought hard for another game, earning three breaks while putting pressure on Makarova's serve for the first time. Makarova immediately fired an ace and went on to save the remaining break points again, but this time the top-seeded pair earned the break back, egged on by the crowd. Sania's nervy serve meant she netted all four first serves, but managed to win the crucial point with a sensational cross-court which took the scoreline to 5-5.
Following a brief interruption owing to closing the roof, the pairs returned.
Vesnina engaged in couple of great rallies with Hingis and Mirza, but the latter held their nerves, to go a break up, overturning a 2-5 deficit to 6-5. Hingis then served out the championship game, visibly enjoying the prospect of becoming the Wimbledon champion 17 years after she became the youngest singles' winner. As she skipped down like a teenager, arms aloft with Mirza, it was a story as incredible as any this weekend.
Makarova, who had a peerless serve up until the vital break which allowed her opponents to claw back, and Vesnina who was excellent at the net until the final 15 minutes, would rue conceding a final where they were up 5-2 in the decider.