Hingis routs India's Mirza to reach final in Calcutta

CALCUTTA, India -- Top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland stormed into the final of the Sunfeast Open on Saturday when she thrashed India's Sania Mirza to win 6-1, 6-0.

Hingis, winner of five Grand Slam titles, dominated the contest, despite a vocal crowd of home supporters for the fifth-seeded Mirza.

In Sunday's final, Hingis will play Russia's Olga Poutchkova, who overcame Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-4 to advance to her first final of a WTA Tour event.

The Florida-based Poutchkova, 18, said she was excited at the prospect of playing Hingis in the final.

"Hingis is a great player. It will be a fantastic experience to play Hingis, and that too in my first WTA event final," said Poutchkova, who played close to the net in her defeat of Tulyaganova.

Hingis said she altered the pace of her game and put pressure on Mirza, who was backed by a vociferous home crowd of 5,000.

"The match wasn't that easy as the scores suggest. I scored some important points at vital moments by raising the level of my game," Hingis said.

"I tried to keep moving as Sania has a great forehand, but she missed some shots in the second set," said Hingis.

Mirza's single point of the encounter came in the second game of the opening set before Hingis stepped up the pressure to break Mirza's service in the fourth and sixth games and then served out the first set.

Mirza failed to win a point in the second set. She struggled with her own serves, but came close to breaking Hingis in the second and fourth games before the top-seeded Swiss found a way out of the tight spot.