Zimbabwe's top player Cara Black and her American partner Liezel Huber saw their hopes of winning their seventh women's tennis doubles title of the year going up in smoke when they lost in the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday night.

 

According to Tuesday's The Herald, the Zimbabwean and her American partner, who were the top seeds at the US$1.34 million Tier I event, suffered an upset 4-6, 6-2, 5-10 defeat at the hands of the second-seeded pair of Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

 

Srebotnik and Sugiyama picked up a winners' cheque for US$54,540 while Black and Huber received US$27,670.

 

It was third time lucky for Srebotnik and Sugiyama on Sunday, as they put final heartbreak at the French Open and Wimbledon behind them to capture their first title together at the Rogers Cup.

 

The final was a re-run of July's championship match at Wimbledon and judging by the intensity with which Srebotnik and Sugiyama started the match, they were eager to avenge the painful three-set defeat they suffered at the All England Club six weeks ago.

 

However, after dropping a tight opening set, Black and Huber roared back, surrendering a mere 16 points on their way to leveling the match.

 

The tie-break was unsurprisingly a tense affair, but the lower-ranked partnership rose to the occasion giving an exemplary serving display to secure a 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 win.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2007)