The duo, second seed in California, was much too strong for the Japanese tandem Shuko Aoyama/Ena Shibahara, the third seed, 6-2 and 6-0. The match lasted only 54 minutes.
In the final, Mertens and Hsieh will play against the Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok and the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko or the Russian Veronika Kudermetova and the Kazakh Elena Rybakina.
Mertens (25) and Hsieh (35) have only formed a pair since this season and immediately won Wimbledon in July. Mertens is aiming for a fifteenth double title, the fourth this year after the Australian Open (with Aryna Sabalenka), Istanbul (with Kudermetova) and Wimbledon. She is also certainly participating in the WTA Finals in Guadalajara in Mexico in mid-November.
In the singles tournament, Elise Mertens (WTA 18) had to pack after a match after losing to Italian qualifier Jasmine Paolini (WTA 63).
