Surprise-Filled Doubles Event To Conclude Saturday
Published March 18, 2011 12:00
INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina will seek to be the fourth straight unseeded BNP Paribas Open doubles champions when they square off with eighth-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy in Saturday's doubles final.
Mirza and Vesnina, whose entire history together before this event consisted of quarterfinal appearances in Dubai and Doha last month, have rolled through the Indian Wells draw without so much as dropping more than four games in a set. However, they were pushed a bit in the second set of their semifinal on Thursday against Daniela Hantuchova and Agnieszka Radwanska, almost letting a 5-1 lead slip away before securing a 60 64 victory.
Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy also have yet to drop a set at Indian Wells, but they didn't even have to step on court for their semifinal against Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko, as Azarenka injured her left hip in her singles quarterfinal earlier on Thursday, making her unable to continue in either event.
The Americans are 1-2 in their previous finals together, having picked up their first title last month in Paris. Mattek-Sands is in pursuit of her 10th career doubles title. Shaughnessy, who lost both her previous finals in Indian Wells, is looking for her 18th. Mirza is also going for her 10th doubles title and Vesnina her fourth and first since she won here in 2008 alongside Dinara Safina.
Here is a list of the unseeded Indian Wells doubles champions:
| Year | Team |
| 1989 | Hana Mandlikova & Pam Shriver |
| 1994 | Lindsay Davenport & Lisa Raymond |
| 2008 | Dinara Safina & Elena Vesnina |
| 2009 | Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva |
| 2010 | Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik |
