MIAMI, FL, USA - They upset two seeded pairs en route to the final, and now Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amélie Mauresmo will try to make it three-for-three, as they go to battle with No.3 seeds Kveta Peschke and Lisa Raymond for the prestigious Sony Ericsson Open doubles title in Miami on Sunday.
Kuznetsova and Mauresmo, who were wildcards into the doubles draw but upset No.1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber and No.6 seed Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez in the second round and quarterfinals, made it past unseeded combination Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder in the semifinals on Friday, 76(6) 63. Groenefeld and Schnyder held a set point at 6-5 in the tie-break before losing the first set to the duo.
Peschke and Raymond didn't face any set points but were given a fierce test by another unseeded duo, Chuang Chia-Jung and Sania Mirza, edging the Asian combo in two tight sets to reach the final of the $4.5-million event, 76(5) 64.
Both of the finalist teams have won one Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles title together in the past, Kuznetsova and Mauresmo on the grass of Eastbourne in 2006 and Peschke and Raymond on hardcourts at New Haven last summer. Kuznetsova and Raymond have won here with other partners, though: the Russian won in 2005 with Alicia Molik, while the American has won here three times, in 2002 with Rennae Stubbs and in 2006 and 2007 with Samantha Stosur.