1 Feb : Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza thrashed Andy Ram of Israel and French Nathalie Dechy in straight sets to win the mixed doubles’ Australian Open championship in Melbourne on Sunday.The unseeded duo of Bhupathi and Sania, were clearly a dominant force as they outclassed Ram and Dechy 6-3, 6-1 and wrapped up the match in just 55 minutes.
While Bhupathi had six mixed doubles’ Grand Slam titles before this, it was the first for Sania who had crashed out of the Australian Open singles’ event in the second round this year.
Last year, Sania and Bhupathi had reached the finals of the Australian Open but faltered at the last hurdkle and had to be content with the runners-up title.The Indian pair were on the button right away and broke Andy Ram in the very first game of the match. But Sania was also broken soon in the fourth game as the Israel and French duo drew level in the set.
The unseeded pair of Sania and Bhupathi were specifically targeting more on Dechy and broke the French in the seventh game to surge ahead. The Indians did not wait too long and broke Ram once again as a forehand shot from Bhupathi went wide off the Israeli to give Indians the first set in 28 minutes.
The second set saw an even better result for the Indians as they broke their rivals twice and wrapped up the set in just 27 minutes.It was a strong combination from the Indian pair and Sania complimented Bhupathi with some great shots across the court.
In the third game of the second set, Ram and Dechy had an opportunity while Sania was serving but the Hyderabadi girl showed some great skills to snatch the chance from her rivals.The Indians broke Dechy in the fourth game and then followed it by breaking Ram in the sixth game to make it 5-1 in their favour.
The final shot saw a strong serve from Sania and Ram had stretch himself but could not do much with it and sent it outside the court to give the Indians the Championship point.”It’s a great win and I would like to congratulate my partner Sania for whom it is the first Grand Slam title,” Bhupathi said after the match.(