After Sania Mirza served a super ace, she couldn't stop smiling. After all, the ace earned her and partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands their second WTA win of the year! The unseeded duo defeated second-seeded Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 in the final of the WTA Dubai Championships, a $2 million event, on Saturday.
"It was a pretty tight match against quality opposition," Sania told HT after the hard-fought win. "In the first we were a break down before wrapping it up 6-4. Unfortunately we lost massive points in the second, allowing them to level scores. In the super tie-break we were down 3-6 but we raised our level when it mattered most and lost just one point there on." It took them 92 minutes to pocket their second title this season, after winning the opener in Brisbane last month. This win tasted sweet because last year Sania with then-partner Elena Vesnina of Russia had lost in the Dubai final.
This was the Indo-American duo's fourth title together. "We haven't played consistently together because she and I both have suffered serious injuries. But this is our fourth title together so we make a pretty potent team," Sania said. This win also gave the 26-year-old Indian her 16 th doubles title.
Bopanna in final
Marseille: Rohan Bopanna reached the first final of the season along with Briton Colin Fleming after edging past Julian Knowle and Filip Polasek in straight sets, here.
Bopanna in final
Marseille: Rohan Bopanna reached the first final of the season along with Briton Colin Fleming after edging past Julian Knowle and Filip Polasek in straight sets, here.
The second seeded Indo-British pair converted all three breakpoints to beat third seed Austrian-Slovakian team 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals.