The battle was tougher than what the scoreline suggests and Sania-Bethanie got over the line by winning the crucial points. They converted three of their five break points while Black and Rodionova wasted the five opportunities they got.
Sania-Bethanie play either Nuria Llagostera Vives and Jie Zheng or Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik in the title clash.
The Indo-American combine started 2013 by winning the Brisbane International before losing in the first round of the Australian Open.