Sania Mirza-Cara Black to feature in World Finals in Singapore

Indian Tennis ace Sania Mirza and Cara Black of Zimbabwe qualified for the WTA Finals to be held in Singapore next month.

"Cara and I are excited to have qualified for the WTA Finals and look forward to competing against the best teams in the world," Mirza said in a statement.

This will be Mirza's first appearance at the event, while Black will be appearing for the 11th time in the competition. She qualified for the last ten years consecutively with different partners - Elena Likhovtseva, Rennae Stubbs and Liezel Huber.

"I'll be making my first appearance at the season finale while for Cara it's the first time since she became a mother, so we have lots to celebrate already," Sania added.

"We're having a great year and we hope to continue that success with a great run in Singapore."

The finals will be held from October 17 to 26. The Indo-Zimbabwean duo is the fourth pair to qualify for the event, joining Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, and defending champions Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei in the eight-team doubles competition.

The doubles competition has been expanded with more teams this year. 

"I think it's a great move for the WTA Finals to have eight teams now. It gives a lot more opportunities to the girls and makes the event more exciting too - there will be more matches, which helps expand the game of doubles. Hopefully the fans enjoy the doubles even more this year," Black said.

Mirza and Black have produced great results this season. Together, they won at the Portugal Open (Oeiras) and Toray Pan Pacific Open. They also finished second at the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and the Rogers Cup.

Stacey Allaster, the chairman & CEO of the WTA, said that the pair has shown tremendous skills and personality both on and off court that inspires many fans across the world.

"Cara and Sania have proven to be not only one of the best WTA doubles partnerships on the court, but also inspirational leaders off the court to fans worldwide - Cara as a mother and Sania for the millions of fans in India," Allaster was quoted in a release.