Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis of Switzerland were named Dec. 8 the 2017 women’s doubles world champions by the International Tennis Federation.
Chan is the first Taiwan athlete to earn the honor. Hingis, who retired at the end of the season, has now received the award three times.
The Taiwan star expressed her joy at gaining the title, stating she was particularly delighted to share the honor with Hingis. “We had an amazing season together and I am very pleased we got to finish it on such a high note,” Chan said, referring to the pair’s No. 1 position in the Women’s Tennis Association doubles rankings at the conclusion of this year’s events.
First partnering up for the Qatar Open in February, Chan and Hingis won a total of nine titles over the course of an outstanding season. Their most notable success came at the U.S. Open in September when they claimed their first Grand Slam as a team. The victory was Chan’s inaugural Grand Slam, making her the first Taiwan athlete to win one of tennis’s signature events.
Chan and Hingis also prevailed at the BNP Paribas Open in California, Mutua Madrid Open, Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Mallorca Open, Aegon International Eastbourne, Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and China Open in Beijing. In addition to their victories on the court, they also picked up several awards, including the WTA’s Doubles Team of the Year.
The other winners of this year’s ITF world champion titles were Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Garbine Muguruza in men’s and women’s singles, respectively, and Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil in men’s doubles. (KWS-E)
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