India’s tennis ace Sania Mirza may have failed to defend the WTA Finals Singapore title with partner Martina Hingis, but she is successfully retaining her World No.1 doubles player status for the second straight year.
“I am very happy. It’s an amazing honour to be number one for the second year. It has been an amazing journey for me,” Sania told PTI on Sunday from Singapore, as reported by Indian Express.
On Saturday, SanTina had crashed out by Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals. In the final match, Makarova and Vesnina then defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova and lifted the doubles title on Sunday. The Russian pairing's first victory in the WTA Finals confirmed Mirza’s top ranking in the year once again.
Also read: Ace Against Odds: The Sania Mirza Story
Mirza’s made history in the tennis world by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the No.1 ranking in doubles, back on April 13, 2015. Recently, she celebrated her No.1 ranking for 81 consecutive weeks with her fans.
“For me, this has been an unbelievable journey and the kind of stuff that dreams are made of! I’ve always felt that reaching the pinnacle in any sphere of activity is a huge achievement but staying there for a prolonged period is even more difficult than getting there for the first time,” an elated Sania said, as quoted by the Express.
After over a month of controversy, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis reunited again for one last time to play the season finale after the split in August. This year, Sania has won titles, including Australian Open with Hingis, Cincinnati Masters with Barbora Strycova.
Also read: Are women rewriting India’s sports history?
“The fact that only 3 legends of the women’s game – Navratilova, Black and Huber – have had a longer consecutive stint at the top in the history of women’s doubles tennis makes it even more satisfying for me,” she had said after celebrating her 80 consecutive weeks as the women’s doubles World Number one.
While the Indian will team up with Czech Strycova, Hingis will likely continue with American Coco Vandeweghe, with who she made the US Open semifinals.
Feature Image Credit: wtatennis
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