Defending champions Timea Babos of Hungary and her French partner Kristina Mladenovic trounced 2nd seeds Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Czech Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-3 to lift the Martina Navratilova Trophy at the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen on Sunday.

The pair came into the meeting having played one previous match between them, with Hsieh/Strycova prevailing in straight sets at Wimbledon earlier this year, but the pair did not have such an easy go of it this time around.

Hsieh/Strycova were broken out of the gate with a hold to 15 by Babos/Mladenovic, who then held their own opening service and converted a quadruple break point as they stormed to a 4-0 lead. Several forehands netted unforced from Hsieh would help Babos/Mladenovic win easy points and maintain momentum.

Although Hsieh/Strycova would get on the board to go 4-1 with a hold to love, their early two-break deficit proved too steep to overcome. Babos/Mladenovic got their own hold to love and broke once more to deal out a breadstick first set in just 25 minutes.

Babos/Mladenovic shot nine winners and won 91 percent of their first service points. Hsieh/Strycova played a tight first set but their small errors ended up costing them at key moments. The pair double faulted twice and coughed up five unforced errors to only four winners on the way to dropping the first set.

The second set was more of a contest, with the two sides trading breaks initially and then serving out to 3-2 for Babos/Mladenovic, who then ignited a string of powerful winners off both sides to convert a triple break point and go up 4-2.

Hsieh/Strycova had a couple of scares but managed to get a hold to 30 in response. Babos/Mladenovic then served for the match at 5-2, and kept it extremely clutch as they stormed to a 40-0 lead and never looked back, sealing the match that took just over an hour with a forehand winner from Babos.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova was on hand to present the trophy bearing her name to the champions, both of whom called it a surreal experience in their remarks on court.

"I don't think we understand what just happened. It's really such an honor to be here and to be among such great champions and great competitors. It's an amazing experience to once again stand here," Babos remarked.

"All week long it was amazing tennis. We knew that at this stage, when it is the best of the best, it is the little things that make the difference and we really stood up and believe in our mental strength. It's the friendship we have together that carries us. It's very special and strong," Mladenovic said.

Their undefeated finish in the round-robin means that Babos/Mladenovic will take home the full 1,000,000 U.S. dollars prize pot up for grabs in doubles. With two round-robin wins and one loss, Hsieh/Strycova take home 475,000 dollars as runners-up.

(Cover: Timea Babos (L) of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France lift the women's doubles trophy of WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China, November 3, 2019. /VCG Photo)