Sania Mirza wins WTA Hobart International doubles title along with partner Nadiia Kichenok
In an outstanding fightback after a 2 year long maternity break from tennis, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza won the WTA Hobart International doubles championship along with her partner Nadiia Kichenok on Saturday.
The unseeded Indo-Ukrainian pair won the second seed Chinese team 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour 21 minutes.
Engage in her first tournament after giving birth to Izhaan, the 33-year-old has started well in the Olympic year as she warmed up for the upcoming Australian Open in style.
This was Sania Mirza’s 42nd WTA doubles title and first since Brisbane International trophy in 2007 with American teammate Bethanie Mattek Sands. Sania didn’t participate on the WTA circuit in the entire 2018 and 2019 season in order to start a family with Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik.
Also Read: Sania Mirza gets teary-eyed during sister Anam's big fat wedding, shares emotional snippet on Insta
Straight sets win 🤩
— WTA (@WTA) January 18, 2020
Nadiia Kichenok and @MirzaSania are your @HobartTennis Doubles Champions after defeating Peng/Zhang, 6-4, 6-4! pic.twitter.com/5rzrRbWcJp
Nadiia started by breaking the Chinese players in the first game of the match but only to drop serve in the next. The two pairs played close game in the end at 4-4, 40 all, Sania and Nadiia got a pivotal break, collecting the chance to serve out the set.
There was no major turn of events in the tenth game with Sania and Nadiia comfortably won the first set. The second set couldn’t have started better for the duo as they broke the Chinese competitors to take early lead and reinforced the break with an easy hold.
The game further fell apart for the Chinese duo as they dropped serve again in the third but broke back promptly to redress some impairment.
Sania and Nadiia were all worked up at 0-30 in the sixth game but Peng and Zhang let them hold serve for a 4-2 lead. The Chinese pair though kept fighting and made it 4-4 with another break in the eighth game.
The Indo-Ukraine team raised its game as it broke Peng and Zhang for one final time in the ninth and served out the match in the next game.Sania and Nadiia share USD 13580 as prize money and gained 280 ranking points each.
Also Read: Watch: Sania Mirza shares adorable video of son Izhaan on his first birthday
First published: 18 January 2020, 14:05 IST
![BJP's Kapil Mishra recreates Shankar Mahadevan’s ‘Breathless’ song to highlight Delhi pollution [WATCH]](http://images.catchnews.com/upload/2022/11/03/kapil-mishra_240884_300x172.png "BJP's Kapil Mishra recreates Shankar Mahadevan’s ‘Breathless’ song to highlight Delhi pollution [WATCH]")
![Anupam Kher shares pictures of his toned body on 67th birthday [MUST SEE]](http://images.catchnews.com/upload/2022/03/07/Anupam_kher_231145_300x172.jpg "Anupam Kher shares pictures of his toned body on 67th birthday [MUST SEE]")
