India’s Sania Mirza marked her outstanding return to the court after a two-year break winning the WTA Hobart International Cup along with Ukraine’s Nadiia Kichenok
The unseeded duo defeated China’s Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang 6-4,6-4 at the signature WTA event in a match that lasted for 1 hour and 21 minutes.
Chinese team that had qualified for the final as the second seed tried to dominate the unseeded pair but soon found themselves on the backfoot struggling to keep up with the form of experienced players.
The two pairs played close games towards the end and at 4-4, 40-all, Sania and Nadiia got the crucial break, earning the opportunity to serve out the set.
Both players jointly won a $13,580 cash prize and 280 ranking points and are now aiming for a similar feat in the Australian Open set to begin from Monday, 20th January.
This is the 33-year-old former WTA world number one’s 42nd WTA titles victory and her first after giving birth to a son in 2018. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
Sania was ecstatic to win the Hobart International crediting her baby Izhaan, her husband Malik and family for their support and thanked the worldwide tennis community for positive vibes.
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