Sania-Strycova triumph in Pan Pacific tennis

The second seeds had defeated unseeded pair of Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Spain’s Maria Jose Martina Sanchez 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 to enter the final. 

This is Sania and Strycova’s third tournament together.

Last month, Sania and Strycova won the Cincinnati Open title with a 7-5, 6-4 win in the final against her previous partner Martina Hingis and Coco Vandeweghe. However, they were ousted from the US Open after losing in straight sets in the quarterfinal to Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. 

Earlier, former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki continued her late-season resurgence by upsetting Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals. 

Continuing the form that took her to the US Open semifinals, Wozniacki, who lifted the title in the Japanese capital six years ago, returned to the final after a thrilling 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over the No.2 seed.

Radwanska had her chances, serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, but ultimately Wozniacki, who committed just 29 unforced errors during their two hours and 51 minutes on court, was just too consistent. 

“I think every time I play her, we play really tough matches - and long ones. Luckily I managed to win that second set and then we both fought so hard in that third one,” Wozniacki said. 

In the final she will face Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka, who fought back to reach her maiden WTA final with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Elina Svitolina.