Unseeded Chinese pair of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan won their maiden WTA Tour title on Saturday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, beating American Asia Muhammad and Japan's Ena Shibahara 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the women's doubles final.

It was a hard-fought victory as Xu and Yang fought back from 2-5 down in the opening set, and saved two set points in the second set against the No. 7 seeds. 

The victory marks Xu's 11th WTA Tour doubles title, also her second at WTA 1000 level following the 2017 Miami Open when she partnered with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski. 

Xu, 33, said the victory is the result of their hard work. "We prepared well for each game, watching at least an hour of competition videos of other players or ourselves."

"But the most important thing is to play to the best of our skills and tactics, and make adjustments according to the changes of our opponents," she added. 

"I'm very happy. I didn't expect the result to be so good two weeks ago. It was tough in the process, but we did a good job. I'm proud of myself and our pair for this result," said 27-year-old Yang. 

They began playing together last year, and this was their 11th event as a team and first win. They also made the championship match in Dubai, but lost.

Meanwhile, defiant Rafael Nadal won an all-Spanish clash of the generations, taming teenager Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to stretch his winning run to 20 matches on Saturday and clinch a place in the Indian Wells final. 

Nadal will take on American Taylor Fritz, who earned a spot in his first Masters 1000 final with a 7-5, 6-4 win over seventh seed Andrey Rublev and will try to become the first American since Andre Agassi in 2001 to lift the trophy.

(With input from agencies)