Tennis star Sania Mirza will pair up with former doubles number one Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain in the Australian Open next month.
Sania had reasonable success in the doubles events with Francesca Schiavone and Chia Jung Chuang this season but the 23-year-old will now team up with Pascual, who has 11 Grand Slams to her name, including 10 in doubles.
"I will be playing with Virginia Ruano Pascual in the Australian Open and if we do well, we'll continue to play together," Sania said.
Sania, who won the 2009 Australian Open mixed doubles title combining with Mahesh Bhupathi, said the season gone by has been extremely good as she finished inside the top 100 for the five successive year.
"For Indian tennis, it was an extremely good year. Mahesh and I won the Australian Open mixed doubles title while Leander won two Grand Slams in doubles. Yuki Bhambri won a junior Grand Slam and we also reached the World Group in Davis Cup after several years.
"Personally, I am happy with the way things have gone for me despite some injury issues. I won my maiden Grand Slam title and finished in the top 100 for the fifth consecutive year," she told MobileESPN.
Asked about her most memorable match this season, Sania said, "Beating world number 12 Marion Bartoli in Osaka in singles and winning Australian Open title in mixed doubles were memorable for me."
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