Sania wins 9th doubles WTA title

Guangzhou :

Sania Mirza won on Sunday won her ninth WTA doubles title when she triumphed at the Guangzhou International Women's Open along with Romanian partner Edina Gallovits here.

Sania and Edina beat local favourites Xinyun Han and Wanting Liu 7-5 6-3 in the summit clash of the USD 220,000 hard court event.

It was Sania's first WTA title in 17 months as the last time she won was in April 2009 at Ponte Vedra Beach event with Taipei's Chia-Jung Chuang.

Sania earned 280 ranking points and split USD 11,000 with Edina as prize money.

Sania won her first and only WTA singles title in 2005 after beating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open.

Her maiden Grand Slam title came only last year when she won the mixed doubles event of the Australian Open along with Mahesh Bhupathi.