Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna finished second to Brazil’s Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos in the Australian Open mixed doubles final on Friday at Melbourne Park, as the Brazilians won their first Grand Slam. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna were beaten 7(7)-6(2), 6-2 by Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos in their final Grand Slam match. Rohan Bopanna, 43, and Sania Mirza, 36, had a rough start when the latter was broken on his first serve.
The Indian duo pounced on Luisa Stefani’s serves in the fourth and eighth games, but lost the set in the tiebreaker when Rohan Bopanna battled to hold his serve in the ninth game.
The Indian pair, who reached the women’s doubles quarterfinals in Rio 2016, was defeated early in the second set. Nonetheless, Rafael Matos and Luisa Stefani collaborated brilliantly to break Sania Mirza’s serve in the fourth game.
At the Australian Open, Sania Mirza won two Grand Slam championships. She won the Australian Open women’s doubles championship in 2016 with Martina Hingis and the Australian Open mixed doubles title in 2009 with Mahesh Bhupathi.
Rohan Bopanna’s 2017 French Open mixed doubles trophy with Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada remains his only Grand Slam victory.
In the Australian Open 2023 semifinals, the Indian team upset defending Wimbledon champions Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski in three sets.
“My professional career started in Melbourne. I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my [Grand Slam] career at,” stated an emotional Sania Mirza in the post-match interview.
Mirza, the WTA Doubles World No. 1 for 91 weeks, finishes second at her final Grand Slam competition. Mirza announced earlier this month that she will retire from professional tennis after the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February.
