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PODIUM OF CHAMPIONS . . . Zimbabwe’s Cara Black (right) and her Indian partner Sania Mirza (left) are all smiles as they receive the BNP Paribas Finals trophy from women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova after they needed just 59 minutes to defeat defending champions Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-0 in the doubles final in Singapore yesterday

SINGAPORE. — TOP Zimbabwean female tennis player Cara Black and her Indian partner Sania Mirza ended the 2014 season on a high note when they cruised to the doubles title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals with an authoritative 6-1, 6-0 win over defending champions Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei yesterday. For Black, it was the third time she had won the doubles crown at the WTA Finals, while for Mirza it was her first victory at the season-ending championships.

Black and Mirza needed just 59 minutes to defeat defending champions Hsieh and Peng in straight sets in the doubles final at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

It was a surprisingly one-sided final, given China’s Peng and Hsieh of Chinese Taipei entered the match with a 12-0 record in doubles finals, including this year’s French Open and Wimbledon in 2013.
The winning pair received US$500 000 in prize money.

After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat twice already this week, Black and Mirza left nothing to chance in the final.
Fifty-nine minutes was all it took for Black and Mirza to dethrone the defending champions Hsieh and Peng, and ensure that their final tournament together ended on a high note.
The 6-1, 6-0 victory was a fairytale ending to their 13-month spell together, although the final chapter nearly had a very different outcome. In their two previous matches, Black and Mirza negotiated dramatic finishes, saving match points in both.

“That’s tennis, it gives you another chance,” Mirza said. “You’ve got to fight and this just proves it, and today we won the tournament. It’s been an amazing ride, an amazing journey.”
From the moment Black fended off a break point with a delicate drop volley in the second game, it was one-way traffic. A quarter of an hour later, the set was in the bag when Black sent a backhand flashing past Peng.

The procession continued in the second, a double fault from Peng handing over the first break. With the finishing line in sight, they showed no sign of slowing down, breaking twice more to complete the whitewash.

Black and Mirza first teamed up at the end of 2013, winning their first two events together, in Tokyo and Beijing. However, Black, who has a two-year-old son, recently announced that she would sit out the 2015 season to spend more time with her family.

“We started off with a bang and now we’re ending with a bang,” Black said. “We’ve had such an amazing year and had so much fun and built a great friendship, which is so special too. It’s sad that this is our last tournament, but it’s great to have these moments to share.”

It was Black and Mirza’s second win in a row over Hsieh and Peng, having lost to them thrice early in the season.
Mirza will pair with Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hseih in the 2015 season. — WTA Tour.com