Indian Wells: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens storm into doubles final, boost WTA Finals hopes
- Taiwanese veteran and Belgian partner blitz Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara in just 54 minutes
- Performance at ‘fifth grand slam’ boosts Race to WTA Finals chances as Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Rybakina await
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium stormed into the women’s doubles final at Indian Wells on Thursday, boosting their WTA Finals hopes with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara.
The No 2 seeds romped past the No 3 seeds at the BNP Paribas Open in straight sets, wrapping things up in just 54 minutes.
Aoyama and Shibahara – who have already qualified for their first season-ending WTA Finals event next month – saved six of 11 break points, but were powerless to stop the experienced Hsieh and Mertens.
The Japanese duo also struggled badly on both their first and second serves, allowing Hsieh and Mertens to blitz past them and into the showpiece of the event often referred to as the “fifth grand slam”.
They will play Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan on Friday (local time). The unseeded duo felled Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets – 6-4, 6-3 – in an hour and 15 minutes.
In reaching the final, Hsieh and Mertens have boosted their hopes of making it to the WTA Finals in Mexico next month.
