Playing against Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke for the seventh time in 2017, Chan and Hingis extended their record to 5-2 against the German-Czech duo, winning comfortably 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 15 minutes.
“Our teamwork has paid off over the season for me and Latisha,” Hingis said in her on-court interview. “And we definitely knew our opponents really well since we played like a million times this year. We’ve had a couple of losses to them too so we knew we had to be ready.
“The thing is today we kind of switched it up; I played okay from the baseline and she was a warrior at the net! Usually we do it the opposite!”
Though it is far from Chan and Hingis’ first match at the WTA Finals, it is the first time the pair are on the same side of the net. Last year, Hingis paired up with Sania Mirza and defeated Chan and sister Chan Hao-Ching on their way to the semifinals.
But Chan and Hingis have seen even more success together; in 2017 they have won nine titles - including the US Open - and are coming into Singapore on the back of a red hot Asian Swing, which saw them claim titles in Wuhan and Beijing, racking up a 19-match win streak.
“It’s been an amazing run even to get into Singapore and to be the No.1 team and player along with Martina,” Chan said. “To win our first round here is a bonus!
“Being in Asia and becoming World No.1 is amazing, I hope I can keep inspiring the young generation and keep doing well.”
Up next, the pair will take on Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova in the semifinals. The Hungarian-Czech duo knocked out Andreja Klepac and María José Martínez Sánchez in straight sets earlier in the day.
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