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Journalism of Courage
There is something special about Sania Mirza. Call it luck. But this Hyderabadi girl has this uncanny ability to pull out something very special on a very special occasion.
Remember the Wimbledon when she won the junior doubles title on the hallowed surface paring with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia to become the first Indian woman to do so winning a Grand Slam title. And the 17-year-old tennis star did it again this time at home.
Sania Mirza, partnering South African star Liezel Huber, clinched the prestigious WTA Tour doubles title by winning the Hyderabad Open here today. And for record, she became the first Indian woman to achieve this landmark. Sania and Huber duo defeated Chinese pair of Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 in the final.
Sania’s earlier achievements include four gold medals at the inaugural Afro-Asian Games at the same venue besides the National Games gold in 2002. She also won the Asian Games mixed doubles bronze, partnering Leander Paes at the Busan Asiad 2002. For a brief period, she was rated as World No 1 in the junior section after her Wimbledon victory.
‘‘It’s a great achievement. I have no words to describe it,’’ she said. Sania was frank enough to admit her partners contribution in her achievement. ‘‘It’s a great opportunity to play with a world class player like Huber.’’ For, Huber who has won 10 WTA Tour titles with several partners in her career, spanning over a decade. This is her eleventh WTA title. Her career-best ranking was World No 12 in doubles which she achieved in October last year. The South African-born, who lives in Huston, USA, praised Sania for her contribution in the victory. ‘‘For the last two days, I had hardly done anything due to food poison. The credit should go to Sania for she played a wonderful game,’’ the 28-year-old Huber said.
