Sania Mirza has no qualms in admitting that she and Horia Tecau were “outplayed” in the Australian Open mixed doubles final on Sunday but said she had a great tournament as she lost only to best teams in her two events.
Krsitina and Mladenovic have been consistently in red-hot form and it was their second Grand Slam together, having won Wimbledon mixed doubles last year. “We played the final against a team which had played four finals in the last four Grand Slams. They played very well, we couldn’t do anything but we’re happy we had a good tournament, made the finals of the first Grand Slam of the season,” Sania, who has won two Grand Slam titles, said from Melbourne.
Sania said Kristina’s blistering returns made a big impact on the match. “At three-all, Mladenovic came up with two really big shots.. That kind of set the tone...Until then it was even at 3-3, she hit those big returns after that the momentum swung a bit. They outplayed us really. We tried to do what we could but we should’ve taken our two or three chances but they had a great match,” Sania said.
Asked if they could’ve done something different, Sania said, “I was getting the first serve in but she was returning very well. That’s it.” It was Sania’s fourth mixed doubles Grand Slam final appearance and second runners-up finish at Melbourne Park. So, considering the tough opponents, is she happy with the end resultIJ “No, I would love to win it but finishing finals in first Grand Slam of the season is not bad either,” was her curt reply.
Playing in the women’s doubles, Sania and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black lost their quarterfinal match to eventual champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci from Italy. Sania said overall she was happy with the way she played with both Cara and Tecau. “For me, mixed doubles was a great tournament. In the women’s doubles we lost to world number one team, who also won the tournament, so we lost to the best teams. All in all, it was good, we played well. Hopefully we can win the next Grand Slam,” she said.