Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis back to No.1 with semis win in Rome

ROME: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis reclaimed the number one spot in the teams ranking after reaching the final of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with a hard-fought 6-2 7-6(5) win over Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik, here today.

The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair, which surrendered the top spot after defeats in Stuttgart and Madrid, saved a set point in the second set tie-break.

They won titles in Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston in an extraordinary good run after joining forces. They are now 18-2 together since March, a 90% winning percentage.

Awaiting them in the final will be No.3 seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, who beat No.8 seeds Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first semifinal of the day, 6-2 6-4.

Sania and Martina beat Babos and Mladenovic in their only previous meeting in Miami 6-2 6-4.