Sania Mirza misses out on title in Grand Slam swansong after Australian Open mixed doubles final loss

Melbourne, January 27: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza missed out on the title in Grand Slam swansong after failing to win the Australian Open mixed doubles trophy with compatriot Rohan Bopanna at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Friday (January 27).

Unseeded Bopanna and Sania lost 6-7(2) 2-6 to Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Mataos in the final match that lasted for nearly 90 minutes.

"My professional career started in Melbourne. I couldn't think of a better arena to finish my [Grand Slam] career at," stated an emotional Sania Mirza in the post-match interview.

Earlier in the tournament, the Indian pair had knocked out third seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 10-6 in the semifinal that lasted one hour and 52 minutes.

The Indian duo had received a walkover in the quarterfinals after their opponents Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and David Vega Hernandez of Spain decided to withdraw from the competition.

To reach the last eight, the unseeded pair had defeated the Uruguay-Japanese pair of Ariel Behar-Makoto Ninomiya 6-4, 7-6 (11-9) in their second-round match. In the tournament opener, Mirza-Bopanna pair had defeated Australian pair Jaimee Fourlis and Luke Saville 7-5, 6-3.

Coming into her final Major tournament, Sania had three women's doubles and as many mixed doubles trophies in her cabinet. Sania won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2009, winning the title with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.

She later won the women's doubles title at Melbourne Park in 2016 with Swiss great Martina Hingis. Out of her six Grand Slams title, three are mixed doubles trophies which she won twice with Mahesh Bhupathi (2009 Australian Open, 2012 French Open) and Brazilian Bruno Soares (2014 US Open).

All three women's doubles titles came with Swiss great Martina Hingis (Wimbledon 2015, US Open 2015 and Australian Open 2016).

Sania has announced that the WTA event in Dubai in February will be her swansong. Mirza, who had decided to postpone her retirement from 2022 so she could bow out on her own terms, will now end her career with six Grand Slam titles.