Title eludes Sania in last Grand Slam

Trailblazing Indian tennis star Sania Mirza capped off her glorious Grand Slam career with a runnersup finish alongside best friend Rohan Bopanna in the Australian Open mixed doubles final here on FridayPairing up with her firstever mixed doubles partner Bopanna the unseeded Indian duo went down 672 26 to the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Mataos in the final at the Rod Laver ArenaIf I cry these are happy tears Thats just a disclaimer Im still going to play a couple of more tournaments but my journey of my professional career started in Melbourne an emotional Sania said as she struggled to hold back tearRohan was my firstever mixed doubles partner when I was 14 and we won the nationals it was 22 year ago and I couldnt think of a better person hes my best friend and one of my best partners to finish my career Sania said thanking Bopanna who has one French Open mixed doubles title to his creditThe 36yearold who earlier announced that the WTA event in Dubai next month will be her swansong is Indias most accomplished woman tennis player having won six Grand Slam title including three mixed doubles trophiesShe had won the the mixed doubles titles at the 2009 Australian Open and the 2012 French Open with Mahesh Bhupathi and the 2014 US Open with Brazillian Bruno SoaresThe Rod Laver Arena has been a happy hunting ground for the Hyderabadi She has a womens doubles and mixed doubles title each and has finished runner up four times at the Australian OpenAlso readAustralian Open Sabalenka beats Linette to reach first Grand Slam final to face RybakinaIt started in 2005 when I played Serena Williams in the third round as an 18yearold and that was scarily enough 18 years ago I have had the privilege to come back here again and again win some tournaments here and play some great finals amongst you allRod Laver Arena has really been special in my life and I coudnt think of a better arena to finish my career at in a Grand Slam Sania saidThe presence of her son Izhaan alongside family and friends made the occasion sweeterI never thought Id be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam final so its truly special for me to have my fouryearold here and my parents here and Rohans wife my trainers my family in Australia who made me fell like home away from homeCara Black who is my best friend and one of my first partners its been truly special I wouldnt be able to achieve anything without you all Sania saidThe Indians were on the back foot from the beginning as they were broken in the very first game and were down 02But the two veterans managed to settle down after a nervy start winning three games in a row to quickly take a 53 lead The Brazillians however forced a tiebreak capitalising on Bopannas poor service gamesWith the momentum on their side Stefani and Mataos took the tiebreak after saving a set point in the 12th gameThe Indians let the Brazillians dominate them in the second set as Sania failed to hold serve in the fourth and eighth game to concede the fixtureThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever