Those tennis fans in India who had not stayed up late to
watch the women's doubles final at SW19 on Saturday night woke up to good news
coming in from London early on Sunday morning, what with the pair of Martina
Hingis and Sania Mirza having come from behind to win the title. It is, by all
means, a momentous achievement for the women's game in India and has put Sania,
28, on a pedestal atop which no Indian woman has stepped before.
India, applaud your first women's Wimbledon championship winner.
The country's most successful female tennis player has gone where no compatriot had before. Paired with Hingis, the former world No 1 who was forced into temporary retirement in 2002 at the age of 22, the Hyderabad star rallied back from a shaky start to beat the formidable Russian pairing of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
In what was an intense match spanning two-and-a-half hours at Centre Court, including a 15-minute hold-up as the retractable roof was closed shut, Sania and Hingis overcame some dominant tennis from the No 2 seeds who were more powerful for the majority of the gripping contest. Sania was broken in the first game and Hingis in the 11th, and the pair lost the first set - the first time in the tournament that they had done so. To win from here was spectacular.
After victory, Hingis reflected on what it felt like to wait 17 years to add a fourth Wimbledon title. "It feels like another life," said the 34-year-old. "But 17 years, usually you're lucky to win it once or happy to be out here and play on the Wimbledon grounds. It's above my expectations."
Sitting next to her, Sania had reason to feel like she'd been waiting a long time to get her hands on the trophy. For it was 12 years ago, in 2003, when as a 16-year-old Sania became the first Indian girl to win a Grand Slam when she triumphed in the doubles' event at Wimbledon, partnering Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. "It means everything to be here today," she said.
The road since then had been bumpy, but in 12 years since turning pro she has made India proud on several occasions. While her singles career never reached the heights Sania would have liked, in the doubles' category she has soared.
In 2009, Sania became India's first woman to win a Grand Slam, lifting the Australian Open with Bhupathi. In 2011, she came close to winning a women's double title in 2011 when she partnered Elena Vesnina to the French Open final, but in 2012 the Sania-Mahesh Bhupathi pairing won the French Open and then in 2014 Sania added the US Open crown with Bruno Soares. Now, a Wimbledon championship.
That this achievement came three months after Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman shuttler to be world No 1 after her India Open Grand Prix Gold triumph is a shot in the arm for female athletes in the country. "I hope this inspires a lot of girls back home, that we can become Grand Slam champions," Sania said at the post-match presentation.
Hingis does not have much time to relax because later on Sunday she will pair up with Paes, 42, for the Wimbledon mixed doubles' final. It could prove to be a bumper tennis weekend for India should Hingis and Paes emerge winners tonight against Austria's Alexander Peya and Hungary's Timea Babos, but what Sania and her partner have achieved will resonate louder than anything that pairing is able to do. This is a big day for the women's game in India.
India, applaud your first women's Wimbledon championship winner.
The country's most successful female tennis player has gone where no compatriot had before. Paired with Hingis, the former world No 1 who was forced into temporary retirement in 2002 at the age of 22, the Hyderabad star rallied back from a shaky start to beat the formidable Russian pairing of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
In what was an intense match spanning two-and-a-half hours at Centre Court, including a 15-minute hold-up as the retractable roof was closed shut, Sania and Hingis overcame some dominant tennis from the No 2 seeds who were more powerful for the majority of the gripping contest. Sania was broken in the first game and Hingis in the 11th, and the pair lost the first set - the first time in the tournament that they had done so. To win from here was spectacular.
After victory, Hingis reflected on what it felt like to wait 17 years to add a fourth Wimbledon title. "It feels like another life," said the 34-year-old. "But 17 years, usually you're lucky to win it once or happy to be out here and play on the Wimbledon grounds. It's above my expectations."
Sitting next to her, Sania had reason to feel like she'd been waiting a long time to get her hands on the trophy. For it was 12 years ago, in 2003, when as a 16-year-old Sania became the first Indian girl to win a Grand Slam when she triumphed in the doubles' event at Wimbledon, partnering Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. "It means everything to be here today," she said.
The road since then had been bumpy, but in 12 years since turning pro she has made India proud on several occasions. While her singles career never reached the heights Sania would have liked, in the doubles' category she has soared.
In 2009, Sania became India's first woman to win a Grand Slam, lifting the Australian Open with Bhupathi. In 2011, she came close to winning a women's double title in 2011 when she partnered Elena Vesnina to the French Open final, but in 2012 the Sania-Mahesh Bhupathi pairing won the French Open and then in 2014 Sania added the US Open crown with Bruno Soares. Now, a Wimbledon championship.
That this achievement came three months after Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman shuttler to be world No 1 after her India Open Grand Prix Gold triumph is a shot in the arm for female athletes in the country. "I hope this inspires a lot of girls back home, that we can become Grand Slam champions," Sania said at the post-match presentation.
Hingis does not have much time to relax because later on Sunday she will pair up with Paes, 42, for the Wimbledon mixed doubles' final. It could prove to be a bumper tennis weekend for India should Hingis and Paes emerge winners tonight against Austria's Alexander Peya and Hungary's Timea Babos, but what Sania and her partner have achieved will resonate louder than anything that pairing is able to do. This is a big day for the women's game in India.
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