Mirza-Hingis battle past Pennetta-Errani into China Open QF

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis struggled initially but found their form at the right time to progress through to the China Open women’s doubles quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis struggled initially but found their form at the right time to progress through to the China Open women’s doubles quarterfinals in Beijing on Wednesday.

Sania Mirza, right, of India celebrates winning a point with Martina Hingis of Switzerland during the second-round women’s doubles match against Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta of Italy at the China Open in Beijing, on October 7, 2015. (AFP Photo)

The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair returned brilliantly after losing the first set to claim a 1-6, 6-4, 10-6 win over the Italian pair of Sara Errani and last month’s US Open women’s singles winner Flavia Pennetta in a thrilling second-round contest that lasted one hour and 16 minutes.

Flavia Pennetta, left, of Italy hits a return as she partners Sara Errani of Italy during their second round women's doubles match against Sania Mirza of India and Martina Hingis of Switzerland at the China Open in Beijing, on October 7, 2015.

Mirza and Hingis, who recently won their seventh title together at last week’s Wuhan Open, will next face Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.