Dubai Duty Free tennis: Sania Mirza wows her fans on comeback with a win
Indo-French pair get past Kudryavtseva and Srebotnik to run into fifth sees next
Dubai: India’s Sania Mirza continued her comeback trail, teaming up with French girl Caroline Garcia to beat Alla Kudryavtseva and Dubai-based Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 to enter the second round of the doubles at the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open late on Tuesday.
Mirza, with a personal ranking of 258, did well to break on Srebotnik’s serve in the 10th game to take the opening set 6-4 in 32 minutes. But in the second set, the Russian and Slovenian pair got the breakthrough on Garcia’s serve to lead 3-2 as they went ahead and won the set 6-4 to force the super tie-breaker.
In the tie-break, Mirza and Garcia were off to a flyer with a healthy 5-1 lead. However, Kudryavtseva and Srebotnik dug in deep and won some tense points before the Indo-French pair drifted ahead 8-3 and then 8-5 to finally win it 10-8 and cement their place in the second round.
Mirza had a dream return to the WTA last month after the birth of her son in 2018. She teamed up with Ukraine’s Nadia Kitchenok to beat China’s Peng Shui and Zhang Shui in straight sets to win the women’s doubles title at the Hobart International. However, a calf muscle injury forced Sania to withdraw from her first round match at the Australian Open.
The Indian tennis diva, who once formed a world No 1 pair with Martina Hingis, and Garcia will play fifth seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Saisai Zheng in their second round match on Court One late on Wednesday.
RESULTS
(Doubles) Desirae Krawczyk/Alison Riske bt Kaitlyn Christian/Oksana Kalashnikova 6-4, 4-6, 10-8; Karolina Pliskova/Kristyna Pliskova bt Shuko Aoyama/Ena Shibahara 6-2, 6-2; Hayley Carter/Luisa Stefani bt Lucie Hradecka/Andreja Klepac 6-7, 7-5, 10-2; Xinyun Han/Shuai Peng bt Cornelia Lister/Renata Voracova 4-6, 7-5, 10-8; Barbora Krejcikova/Saisai Zheng bt Alexa Guarachi/Alicja Rosolska 6-4, 6-2; Karolina Muchova/Marketa Vondrousova bt Jennifer Brady/Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 4-6, 10-7; Caroline Garcia/Sania Mirza vs Alla Kudryavtseva/Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 4-6, 10-8.