Veteran Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Lucie Hradecka's splendid run at the Charleston Open ended after they lost the title clash to Andreja Klepac and Magda Linette. The unseeded Mirza and Hradecka went down 2-6, 6-4, 7-10 in one hour 24 minutes to the fourth seed Polish-Slovenian duo on Sunday.
Mirza and Hradecka had a stunning run at the WTA 500 event, reaching the women's doubles final after pulling off a major upset by stunning top seeds Zhang Shuai and Caroline Dolehide in the semifinals.
In the quarterfinals, they got the better of third seeds Alexa Guarachi and Jessica Pegula. Mirza and Hradecka had also reached the semifinal of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.
The 35-year-old Mirza, who is India's most accomplished woman tennis player having won six Grand Slam titles, including three mixed doubles trophies, had earlier announced that 2022 would be her last season.
Belinda Bencic beats Jabeur for Charleston Open title
Belinda Bencic won three of the last four games to outlast Ons Jabeur 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 and win the Credit One Charleston Open for her first clay-court championship.
Bencic won her sixth career WTA title and first since the Tokyo Olympic. Bencic lost her opening match in Indian Wells last month and wasn't sure what direction she was headed. Things began to turn in Miami where she reached the semifinals before losing and she built on that positive momentum in Charleston.
Bencic, of Switzerland, reached the semi-finals here in her first visit in 2014 and hadn't advanced that far until this year. She earned $158,000 for winning the season's opening clay-court tournament.
Bencic, seeded 10th, looked like she'd have an easy time with Jabeur, from Tunisia, who she broke twice on the way to taking the opening set. But Jabeur, the fourth seed ranked 10th in the world, cut down on the unforced errors and drew on the energy of the crowd, who applauded almost every move the dynamic 27-year-old made much of the week.
Jabeur held serve at 5-all in the second set before ripping a forehand to break Bencic and tie the match. Jabeur got down on one keep and pumped her fist in celebration heading to the deciding set.
But it was Bencic who regained her form to open a 3-1 lead. Jabeur had one last rally, squaring the set at three-all with her final break of Bencic's serve.
That's when Bencic's smooth ground strokes and near-perfect placement wore down Jabeur. Bencic took control for good after Jabeur sent a shot long to go up 4-3.
Bencic won the final game at love, dropping to her knees and covering her face in celebration after Jabeur's forehand sailed over the baseline.