CARA Black has had a decent performance since her return to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) circuit last year and her good showing partnering Indian Sania Mirza has seen her raking in almost half a million in earnings this season. SPORTS REPORTER
According to figures that were released by WTA, Black’s earnings stand at $405 805 and she is ranked at 66 on the WTA Tour Money Leaders, an improvement from the 71 she recorded in her comeback last season.
The list is led by Serena Williams who has so far earned a whopping $6 710 598.
Black and Mirza’s impressive 2014 season is highlighted by titles at the Portugal Open (Oeiras) and Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo), along with runner-up finishes at the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and the Rogers Cup (Montreal) and last week’s China Open.
They also have three more semi-finals including their first Grand Slam semi-final together at the US Open earlier this year where they bagged their biggest pay cheque of the season.
For reaching the semis, Black and Mirza shared $124 450. Black had an additional $15 000 shared with her partner for reaching the mixed doubles quarter-finals at the same competition.
For winning the Portugal Open, the pair shared $12 414. At the Toray Pan Pacific, they shared $44 835 for clinching the title and split $20 000 for coming second best at the Porsche Grand Prix.
Their second biggest cheque was at the Australian Open in January where they reached the quarter-finals stage and were rewarded with a $65 000 to share.
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In May the two earned themselves a further $55 000 for reaching the French Open last eight and a further $13 000 for reaching the second round of the Wimbledon the following month.
“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,” said WTA chairman & CEO Stacey Allaster.
Another season highlight for the pair was qualifying for the season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Finals to be held in Singapore, October 17-26, joining Italy’s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, China’s Peng Shuai and Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei, and Russia’s Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the draw.
Black will be making her 11th appearance while Mirza will be making her debut at the year-end event. Black previously qualified for 10 consecutive years (2000-2009) with three different partners — Elena Likhovtseva (2000-2003), Rennae Stubbs (2004-2006) and Liezel Huber (2007-2009).
Black and Mirza first paired up in the autumn of 2013 and found immediate success, with titles at their first two outings in Tokyo and Beijing.
Prior to her partnership with Mirza, Black was already a WTA legend. Her 59 WTA doubles titles are second-most among active players.
Five of those titles came at Grand Slams (she also has five mixed doubles Grand Slam titles). Also, her 163 weeks spent as World No.1 is third-most all-time.
However, the two will be separating after the Singapore event.
Last Saturday’s China Open tournament was a reunion for Black and Mirza who had briefly separated last week with former partnering Caroline Garcia to reach the finals of the Wuhan Open doubles finals last week.
Mirza did not make the trip to Wuhan as she was participating in the Asian Games in South Korea.
Although she skipped the Wuhan Open due to other commitments, it later emerged that Black and Mirza have decided to part ways next season.
Reports from India show that Mirza would be partnering Chinese’s Su-Wei Hsieh, bringing to an end to her rather successful partnership with Zimbabwe’s all time women tennis great.
