Hsieh, Peng still perfect in Finals

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai became the first Asians ever to win the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, winning the doubles title over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

Makarova and Vesnina had taken out No.1 seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in the semifinals, but the No.2-seeded Hsieh and Peng were just too good, coming out particularly strong - they stormed out to a 5-1 lead and, after Makarova and Vesnina closed to 5-4, broke Vesnina to clinch the set, 6-4.

The Russians came out swinging in the second set, going up 3-1, but Hsieh and Peng went on another run, reeling off six of the next eight games to close it out - breaking Vesnina to finish it, 64 75.

"The most important thing today was that she was doing her job at the baseline, and I was doing my job at the net," Hsieh said afterwards. "I don't think I can help a lot at the baseline so it was important that I was up at the net finishing the points. That was our game plan today and it really worked."

Hsieh and Peng won their ninth WTA doubles title together, having won one title in 2008 (Bali), three titles in 2009 (Sydney, Rome and Beijing) and five this year (Rome, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, Guangzhou and the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships). Additionally, they are now 9-0 in WTA doubles finals as a team - particularly noteworthy given they are only even with other partners (Hsieh 5-5, Peng 3-3).

Hsieh and Peng weren't just the first Asians to capture the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships doubles title, they were actually just the second and third Asian players to reach the doubles final at all - the first to do it was Japan's Ai Sugiyama, who was a runner-up twice (in 2003 and 2007).

"We really enjoyed playing together this year," Peng said. "We had a really good time together on the court - we fought sometimes, but it was still a lot of great memories, just the whole experience!"

So what's next for the reigning Wimbledon and TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships winners?

"We haven't really discussed yet," Hsieh said.

"Do we play together next year?" Peng said with a giggle.

"It depends on if we fight or not in the next two months!" Hsieh joked.

"We're just looking forward to some rest time now and then we'll train together," Peng added.