Wuhan: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Barbora Strycova from Czech Republic faltered in the Wuhan Open women's doubles final, losing to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova in straight sets on Saturday.
The third seeded Indo-Czech pair were beaten 1-6, 4-6 by Mattek-Sands and Safarova in a lopsided contest that lasted over an hour.
Earlier, Sania and Strycova produced a gutsy performance to beat Chinese Taipei duo of Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in the semifinal.
Sania had joined forces with Strycova at the Cincinnati Open for the first time after splitting with Swiss star Martina Hingis in August. They defeated Martina Hingis and CoCo Vandeweghe in the final to win the Cincinnati Open.
However, they were knocked out of the US Open, the fourth and final major of the season, after losing in the quarterfinals.
