Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan had a set point in the first set and were 2-0 ahead in the second, but could convert neither chance as they fell to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 defeat in the Family Circle Cup doubles final in Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday.
In a 57-minute first set against the Taiwanese sisters in rainy conditions, Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan overcame a set point at 5-4, deuce and eventually won it in a tiebreak. Then, down 2-0 in the second set, they reeled off six straight games to claim the title.
The Taiwanese duo saved nine of 13 break-point chances, but only converted two of nine to lose in 1 hour, 31 minutes.
“We were told it was going to rain and if we stopped we would have to come back on another court,” Shvedova told the WTA Tour Web site. “So we were happy to stay on the center court, even though it was raining in the beginning. I think the whole set it was drizzling, but we didn’t complain. We had to finish because I have a flight to catch later today.”
“We have been trying to play all year together and we feel like every tournament we’ve played, we’ve improved,” Medina Garrigues said. “In Australia, we didn’t play so well, but we kept going. In Indian Wells, we won one round. In Miami, we had match points in the quarter-finals and lost, and here we won the tournament. We are seeing that we are improving, so we are very happy.”
Medina Garrigues took a tumble at one point, falling over and getting covered in clay.
“It’s a tradition,” Shvedova told the tournament Web site. “She did the same thing yesterday, so she had to do it today, too.”
“It never happens to me where I fall over and I hit the ball, but here it did,” Medina Garrigues added.
The Chan sisters fell to 1-2 in WTA Tour doubles finals, with their victory coming in Shenzhen, China, in January last year.
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