Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu beat China No 1 Zhang Shuai to Courmayeur Ladies Open doubles title
- All-Chinese duo defeat Zhang and Japan’s Eri Hozumi to lift last WTA Tour title of the season in Italy
- US Open doubles winners Zhang and Samantha Stosur still have WTA Finals to play in Mexico this month
Chinese doubles pair Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu ended their season in style by beating China’s top player Zhang Shuai and Japan’s Eri Hozumi to the Courmayeur Ladies Open title in Italy.
Zheng and Wang triumphed over their compatriot and her partner in three sets, beating the No 3 seeds 6-3, 3-6, 10-5, with the match going to a third-set tiebreak.
The duo became the first winners of the inaugural event, which was added to the WTA Tour this season, to end a disjointed season for Chinese players.
Zhang was the only Chinese player to stay on tour throughout the summer as her peers returned to China ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the China National Games.
Some players, such as former China No 1 Wang Qiang, did not return to the tour following her win over Zheng in the singles in Xian.
Wang Xinyu had also beaten singles No 8 seed Zhang in the second round in northern Italy, a week after beating her in Tenerife.
Is Chinese tennis finally on the up?
In the women’s singles at Courmayeur, Croatia’s Donna Vekic beat Denmark’s Clara Tauson in the final of the hard court tournament in the foothills of Mont Blanc.
The tennis season is over bar the WTA Finals where US Open champion Zhang has been invited along with partner Samantha Stosur of Australia.
Zhang and Stosur won in New York on the back of another tournament win at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
They will be joined in Guadalajara by Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara, Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens, Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Demi Schuurs, Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk, Darija Jurak and Andreja Klepac, and Sharon Fichman and Giuliana Olmos.
The tournament – which sees the doubles pairings play for the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy – was moved to Mexico from its usual home in Shenzhen this year, because of ongoing Covid-19 restrictions in China.
In the singles, Anett Kontaveit became the final player to qualify with victory over Simona Halep at the Transylvania Open in Romania.
Zhang and Hsieh qualify for WTA Finals doubles
The Estonian joins Aryna Sabalenka, Barbora Krejcikova, Karolina Pliskova, Maria Sakkari, Iga Swiatek, Garbine Muguruza and Paula Badosa in the battle for the Billie Jean King Trophy.
World No 1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia topped the singles standings in the WTA Race to the Finals but she will not appear in Mexico.
This year’s WTA Finals take place from November 10-17.
