She is probably the second-most popular player at the Bangalore Open and a perfect foil to Sania Mirza, whom she partners in the doubles category. But the South African player, 10 years older than Sania, is also the winner of the 2005 Wimbledon doubles championship. The knowledge and guile accumulated over the years was on display as the duo pulled through tricky encounters against younger opponents.‘‘Being in the Top 10 in doubles means that you can deal with all the hiccups that arise during the course of the match,’’ explains Huber. Eighteen-year-old Shahar Peer who staged a brave counter-attack with Maria Koryttseva against the duo in the semi final conceded, ‘‘The big points decided the match. They played them well, the experience showed.’’The duo’s association in the doubles circuit goes back a long way. The Indian had won her first-ever career Tour title at Hyderabad in the company of Huber as a rookie 17-year-old. ‘‘We were the under-dogs then, Sania was just coming onto the circuit; now the pressure’s more,’’ Huber says.The doubles specialist—who touched a career-high doubles ranking of No 4 in July last year— has played a bigger role as Sania Mirza’s mentor on the cut-throat Tour. ‘‘Every youngster entering the WTA is assigned a mentor — a senior who has been around and guides you through the initial years. I am lucky that we are still playing together and my mentor is watching me grow,’’ Mirza says. ‘‘We are good friends now, but its not out of charity or owing to my being a mentor that I partner her. She’s a good player and our games gel well,’’ says Huber. When asked about her left leg in black plaster throughout the tournament, she replied, ‘‘Six months ago, I couldn’t walk at all; so running around the court now, I feel like a champion athlete. We’ve won, and that’s what matters.’’The association seems to have rubbed off on the Indian girl too, she is now more of a quick with and is fast-developing a repository of net-tricks. Clearly, this association looks like it would stand the test of time.Mirza-Huber win doubles titleBangalore: Sania Mirza won her third career WTA title — all at home — after claiming the doubles crown with South African Liezel Huber beating Russians Anastassia Rodionova and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Tier III Bangalore Open here.Winning her second doubles victory in the company of Huber, the earlier coming two years ago in her home city, Mirza added to her singles crown, which she had won at Hyderabad last year - giving her a title, singles or doubles for each of the last three WTA editions in India.Earlier, Mara Santangelo beat Jelena Kostanic 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to win the Tier III WTA Bangalore Open singles final. This was also her first victory over Kostanic as she had earlier lost to her twice.
