India Houghton served first when she and Elyse Tse played Ayumi Miyamoto and Kisa Yoshioka in the women’s doubles final at Papamoa, with Miyamoto being the only right-hander amongst the four. She looked to be cruising at 40-0, but was forced into a backhand error to end a great rally before overhitting a forehand, and a forced error from Tse dropped them back to deuce. Yoshioka safely returned the deciding point, but dumped a forehand volley into the net to lose the game.
Miyamoto served next, and the incredible 30 shot rally on the third point was the best I’ve seen in ages, ending only because Tse was forced to hit a forehand volley over the baseline. She made up for that with a fabulous backhand return of the next serve, but Yoshioka completed the hold for the top seeds with a beautiful inside-out forehand volley.
Tse then had to save break points after she couldn’t quite reach a cross-court forehand return from Yoshioka, with Houghton smashing away a volley to win the first before an unreturnable serve to Yoshioka got them to deuce. That was where Tse’s luck ran out, as she hit a forehand long to lose her serve. Yoshioka held to love to consolidate the break, and took Houghton to deuce with a beautiful forehand winner down the tramlines to end a good rally with the American. Tse had better luck with this deciding point, smashing away a volley to let her partner hold.
It was Houghton’s turn to add a shot to the highlights package when she hit a beautiful forehand lob over Miyamoto, the latter having to pull out of the chase to avoid crashing into the fence. A double fault dropped Miyamoto back to deuce, and Houghton’s lovely inside-out overhead volley won the great rally on the deciding point and levelled the scores.
That state of affairs didn’t last long, with Tse and Houghton hitting two unforced errors each as the New Zealander lost her serve again. Another nice overhead volley from Houghton took Yoshioka to deuce, but Tse ended the good rally between Yoshioka and Houghton on the deciding point by pushing what should have been a straightforward backhand winner into the net.
A cross-court forehand from Houghton that went wide in the next game gave the Japanese pair three set points, but Miyamoto hit a poor forehand return of the first before a nice forehand volley from Tse got them to deuce. Every deciding point in the match got returned safely, but it was Houghton who came out on top this time when she hit a beautiful forehand winner down the tramlines.
Miyamoto was still going to be serving for the set, but lost the first point when her partner was forced into an error at the end of a great rally. Yoshioka made up for that by hitting a beautiful cross-court backhand volley to win another good rally next up, while unforced errors from Houghton and Tse gave the top seeds three more set points. The first was saved when Yoshioka was forced into an error, but Tse’s forehand return of the next serve went well over the baseline, ending the set after 45 minutes.
The second set didn’t start any better for Tse, as she ended the first game with a double fault before Yoshioka completed a hold to love with a fabulous forehand winner down the tramlines. Tse started Houghton’s first game in the set with a lovely overhead volley, but it was the American who played the shot of the day when she hit a stunning forehand lob through the right-hand side of the court to end another great rally.
Two unforced errors from Tse, the latter being her own attempt at a similar lob, meant that Houghton was facing a break point, but her blushes were spared when Yoshioka made a complete mess of what should have been an easy cross-court forehand and sent it wide. Yoshioka took the deciding point as well, but it was Tse who hit the winning volley.
The next game from Miyamoto was the best in the match, with four gorgeous winners before two great rallies ended in forced errors. Yoshioka got them underway with a beautiful backhand winner through the middle of the court before Tse added a lovely forehand volley down the tramlines.
A similar shot from Yoshioka was followed by a nice overhead cross-court volley from Tse, but Yoshioka gave away the deuce when forced to jam a forehand volley into the ground. Houghton took the deciding point, but it was Tse who lost the great rally after 14 shots when the wind carried her backhand volley wide. She then lost her own serve for the fourth time in a row, Yoshioka holding comfortably to consolidate the double break.
Houghton held in turn after Miyamoto and Yoshioka hammered their final returns of serve into oblivion, but the breaks left Miyamoto serving for the title. Yoshioka overhit a backhand volley to start the game, but three unforced errors in a row from Tse gave the top seeds that many Championship points. One was all they needed, Yoshioka landing her inside-out backhand volley on the baseline to complete the match after an hour and 20 minutes. The final score was 6-4, 6-2.