Indian veteran pairing of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna sustained a gut-wrenching defeat against Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos of Brazil in the 2023 Australian Open Mixed Double final on January 27 (Friday). The Indians were defeated in straight sets 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. As a result, Sania will end her career with six Grand Slam titles after failing to win the Australian Open mixed doubles title at Rod Laver Arena. Coming into her final Major tournament, Sania had three women's doubles and as many mixed doubles trophies in her cabinet. The 42-year-old Bopanna has one French Open mixed doubles title to his credit.
"Disclaimer, if I cry it is happy tears, not sad tears," said an emotional Sania Mirza after her glittering Grand Slam career came to an end.
"I’m still going to play a few more tournaments, but the journey of my professional career started in Melbourne in 2005, when I played Serena Williams in the third round as an 18-year-old," Sania continued
"I’ve had the privilege to come back here again and again, win some tournaments here, play some great finals … Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life. I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my career at Grand Slams.
"I never thought I would be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam final, so it’s truly special for me to have my 4-year-old here, my parents here," the 36-year-old added.
The Indians were on the back foot from the beginning as they were broken in the very first game and were down 0-2.
But the two veterans managed to settle down after a nervy start, winning three games in a row to quickly take a 5-3 lead. The Brazillians, however, forced a tiebreak capitalising on Bopanna's poor service games.
With the momentum on their side, Stefani and Mataos took the tiebreak after saving a set point in the 12th game.
The Indians let the Brazillians dominate them in the second set as Sania failed to hold serve in the fourth and eighth game to concede the fixture.
(With PTI inputs)
