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WTT Washington Kastles

Martina Wins US Open Women's Doubles Title: Her Fifth Grand Slam Title of 2015

September 15, 2015 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


It was a familiar scene on Sunday afternoon when Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza jumped into each others arms, as their embrace in Arthur Ashe Stadium signified their second major doubles title in a row, and Hingis' fifth Grand Slam title of 2015.

Immediately following the match, a euphoric Hingis posted this picture on her Twitter account, which best encapsulates the look of someone who, all in one year, has won five majors, a WTT championship and regained the number one team ranking in addition to sweeping women's doubles and mixed doubles titles back to back at Wimbledon and the US Open. In short, it has been an extraordinary year for the Kastles star who has quickly reestablished herself at the top of the women's game.

Sunday's championship match victory over No. 4 seeds Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova was a businesslike 6-3, 6-3 affair and concluded a US Open in which Hingis and Mirza never lost a set. In fact, they only lost a total of 26 games in those 12 sets and were only pushed past 6-3 in two of the sets.

The lethal combination of Hingis's backhand, deft touch and rock solid net game partnered with Mirza's powerful forehand were on display throughout the match. They struck first by breaking Dellacqua at love to take a 3-1 lead in the opening set. After Mirza dropped her serve in the next game, the Champions responded brilliantly, breaking Shvedova in the next game when she hit a backhand lob wide. The top seeds made sure to hang on to their momentum this time, with Mirza striking a forehand passing shot on her serve at 5-3 to give them set point and Hingis hit a volley winner to wrap up the opening set.

They continued their momentum in the second set by breaking Shvedova in the opening game. With Mirza's lethal forehand continuing to set up winning volleys for Hingis, the pair appeared unstoppable. And they were, continuing to roll by breaking Dellacqua to take a 5-2 lead. Martina lost her serve in the next game, but she and Mirza rebounded by breaking Shvedova in the very next game. A volley winner from Hingis on their first championship point wrapped up the match as she and Mirza jubilantly hugged in celebration.

The Sunday title came 17 years after Martina last won the US Open women's doubles title in 1998, when she won it with her partner Jana Novotna.

In 2015 so far, the Swiss Miss has won five Grand Slams, a WTT championship and three other tour titles. After starting her partnership with Mirza earlier this year, the two won the first 20 sets they played, taking back-to-back titles at the big tournaments in Indian Wells and the Miami Open followed by the title at the Family Circle Cup.

Even more incredibly, the Hall-of-Famer, who turns 35 at the end of this month, has won five of the year's eight grand slam doubles championships that she could compete for (women's and mixed), which is nearly an unheard of success rate of 63 percent.

The only other women's doubles team to win multiple major doubles titles this year was Bethany Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, who won the Australian Open and the French Open.

From a historical perspective, the only women's doubles team that could potentially match the success that Hingis had this year would be the incomparable duo of Martina Navratilova (who Martina was named after) and Pam Shriver. That team won 20 Grand Slam doubles titles overall, and in 1984 they completed the calendar year Grand Slam.

The legend of Hingis now includes 20 Grand Slam titles (5 singles, 11 doubles and 4 mixed doubles), 43 career singles titles, 46 doubles titles, a stay at World No. 1 in both singles and doubles, three WTT titles with the Kastles and a Hall of Fame induction.

It appears that the end is nowhere in sight, and fans around the globe will be able to enjoy watching Hingis play at the phenomenal level that the Kastles have known about and seen up close for the past three seasons.

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