Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek lived up to their top billing to clinch the doubles title after a nail-biting final at the US $175,000 Cincinnati Open tennis tournament on Sunday.
Sania and her American partner defeated Russia's Alina Jidkova and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 7-6(4), 7-5 to romp home in the WTA Tier III event.
For Sania, it was her second Tour doubles title this year and overall fifth, while Mattek won her second WTA title.
The two teams stayed close throughout the match, except for a 3-1 second set lead for Jidkova and Poutchek, who could not stretch it further.
Sania said she was satisfied with her performance and credited the win to team effort.
"We played better matches this week, but we're still happy to win. I have to get along with somebody off the court to play with them; Bethanie and I are a good team," she said.
Mattek, echoing the views, also praised Sania's forehand shots.
"We are a really good mixture. We're both solid on the baseline and Sania has a good forehand, so it opens up the court. Same with our serves," the American said.
Top seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia beat seventh seed Akiko Morigami of Japan 6-1, 6-3 to clinch the singles title.
