Sania Mirza wins maiden Australian Open doubles title
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their first Australian Open doubles title together with a 7-6(1) 6-3 victory over Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka on Friday.
It was a third Grand Slam doubles title for 29-year-old Mirza, all of which have been won with the Swiss former singles world number one Hingis. Together, they have now won 36 successive doubles matches and currently hold the Wimbledon and US Open titles.
Speaking courtside, Mirza said: “Thanks to my partner, we have had an incredible year. We keep going and it’s great to have all these records with you.”
Both pairs were broken four times each in the first set before Mirza sealed it in the tiebreak after 62 minutes when Hradecka sent a forehand service return long over the baseline.
Ironically Hingis was knocked out by Mirza and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles quarter-finals.
Mirza is currently ranked as the world number in women’s doubles and from 2003 until 2013, was India’s highest ranked female tennis player in both singles and doubles. In singles, she reached number 27 in the world before injury forced her to focus on doubles.
Mirza was named one of the “50 heroes of Asia” by Time in October 2005. In March 2010, The Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the “33 women who made India proud”. She was appointed as the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia during the event held to mark the International Day To End Violence Against Women on 25 November 2013.