Abu Dhabi: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands suffered a straight-set defeat against the pair of Kirsten Flipkens and Laura Siegemund in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open here.
The Sania-Bethanie duo lost 3-6 4-6 to their Belgian-German opponents in the match that lasted one hour and 13 minutes Monday night to make an early exit from the tournament.
Sania, a six-time Grand Slam winner, is set to retire from professional tennis after playing in the Dubai Tennis Championships beginning February 19.
Earlier, Sania and Rohan Bopanna lost 6-7 (2-7), 2-6 to the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos in the mixed doubles final of the Austrlian Open at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. With this Sania finished her journey in professional tennis with as many as six doubles titles even as title eluded her in her final Grand Slam. Bopanna too was in praise of Sania for her sevice to the game over the years.
“My professional career started in Melbourne… I couldn't think of a better arena to finish my [Grand Slam] career at," Sania said after the defeat.
"Rod Laver Arena has been special. Never thought I'd be able to play in a Grand Slam final, in front of my son." she added.
It is pertinent to note that this was the 11th Grand Slam final of her career. Overall, she has won a total of 43 doubles titles. She was even ranked the number 1 player in the women's doubles category for a 91 weeks.
For those who had witnessed to see her game were not left disappointed as she looked in great form producing some powerful forehand shots, some of those put their Brazilian opponents in trouble. Having lost the final Grand Slam event in her illustrious career and now bowing out in the first round of Abu Dhabi Open, she would hope to make up for it by ending with a win in her final tournament at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai later this month.
(With Inputs From PTI)