TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan tennis star Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her partner Elise Mertens of Belgium defeated Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 7-6 (1), 6-3, in the women’s doubles on Saturday (Oct. 16) to win the BNP Paribas Open doubles title at Indian Wells, California.

The win is Hsieh’s third doubles title at Indian Wells, with a different partner each time.

After an hour and 34 minutes of play, the No. 2 seeds prevailed to claim their second WTA doubles title and first WTA 1000 title. The team won their first doubles title at this year’s Wimbledon.

"We tried to play aggressive, Su-wei at the net, me from the back, so she can cross," Mertens said, in their champions press conference. "I think it all clicked a little bit better in the second set. So we are really, really happy with the win, and qualified for the (Akron WTA) Finals, so very happy for that too."

Hsieh and Mertens, both former Doubles World No.1 players, paired up for the first time during the summer and have established themselves as a formidable team on the WTA.

(YouTube, Unseen Tennis video)