Dubai: Olympic champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina quelled a late fightback to defeat the popular Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova and enter the women’s doubles final at the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open on Friday.
Crowned champions on August 14 last year at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Switzerland’s Martina Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky, Makarova and Vesnina had to keep the Indo-Czech pair away in the second set as they threatened to draw level.
Comfortably placed to cruise through with a 5-0 lead, the Russian duo of Makarova and Vesnina had to contend with no further hiccups as Mirza and Strycova took three games on the trot and trail 3-5. Liderbahis With Vesnina serving and facing three break points, the Russians fought back and took the game and the match to book the first spot in the final. The second semi-final was scheduled to be played later on Friday with fifth seeds Hao-Ching Chan and Yaroslava Shvedova meeting sixth-seeded Andrea Hlavackova and Shuai Peng.
The Russians, seeded No. 2 here, were pleased with the way they responded towards the end of the second set. “Of course, we got a bit nervous are they are such a good pair. At first we found it hard to believe that we had won seven games in-a-row against them, leave alone beat them,” Vesnina, one of Mirza’s former doubles partners, told media.
“It is never easy to beat them. And here we were leading 5-0. That lead made us lose our concentration a bit and we got a bit too relaxed I think. But when it became 5-3 then we told ourselves that we need to hit the ball inside the court,” Vesnina added.
“It was really important to win this game and be in a final in Dubai,” Makarova chipped in.
RESULT
(Women’s doubles semi-finals) Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina bt Sania Mirza/Barbora Strycova 6-4, 6-3
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