New Delhi: Welcome to our coverage of the Australian Open Mixed Doubles final at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena. Sania Mirza-Ivan Dodig, favourites for the title, were defeated by the pairing of Abigail Spears and Jan Sebastian Cabal in straight sets.
Spears-Cabal are the Australian Open mixed doubles champions! They beat Sania-Dodig 6-2 6-4.
11: 39 AM IST: Spears/Cabal now serving for the trophy. What a comeback. 4-5 it is.
11: 33 AM IST: Terrific fight back from Spears/Cabal. 2nd set level now at 4-4.
11: 28 AM IST: BREAK! Sania Mirza’s serve broken. It’s 3-4 now!
11: 24 AM IST: Abigail Spears-Jan Sebastian Cabal hold on serve well. It’s 4-2 in the second set.
11: 21 AM IST: Each pair holding on their serves well. It’s 4-1 in the second set.
11: 16 AM IST: Sania Mirza holds on her serve as Mirza/Dodig take 3-0 lead in second set.
11: 13 AM IST: BROKEN! Mirza/Dodig take 2-0 lead. Terrific recovery. But can they carry on?
11: 09 AM IST: Second set underway and Sania/Dodig hold serve to take 1-0 lead.
11: 06 AM IST: The first set ends 6-2 in favour of Abigail Spears-Jan Sebastian Cabal.
10: 59 AM IST: Sania Mirza serves and it’s 5-2 now for the Indo/Croatian pair.
10: 56 AM IST: Spears/Cabal hold serve. It’s 5-1.
10: 54 AM IST: Dodig holds serve to get one game back. It’s 4-1.
10: 50 AM IST: Unexpected start fot he final! Mirza/Dodig trailing badly against the unseeded pair. It isn’t even competitive right now. They are 4-0 down.
10: 47 AM IST: Broken again! Spears-Cabal take a 0-3 lead.
10:43 AM IST: Spears/Cabal lead Mirza/Dodig 2-0 in first set. The unseeded pair playing really well at the start of this final.
10:41 AM IST: Spears/Cabal lead Mirza/Dodig 1-0 in first set.
10:37 AM IST: The match is underway…
Indian Tennis queen Sania Mirza will be eyeing his 7th career Grand Slam title as she along with partner Ivan Dodig take on Abigial Spears and Juan Sebastian Cabal in the final of the 2017 Australian Open Mixed Doubles event.
Sania, most recently won the 2016 Australian Open title in Women’s Doubles category with Martina Hingis and has also won the same Grand Slam in 2009 in Mixed Doubles category with fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi.
(PREVIEW: Australian Open, Men’s Singles Final)
If the Indo-Croatian pair comes out triumphant today, it would be Sania’s first Grand Slam title with Dodig and fourth major mixed doubles triumph overall. She had earlier won in the same category in 2009 Australian Open, 2012 French Open and 2014 US Open.
While Sania Mirza-Ivan Dodig were seeded second, the American-Colombian duo of Abigail Spears and Juan Sebastian Cabal are unseeded. Also, this is the second time the Sania-Ivan pair has made a Grand Slam final.
Ivan Dodig had earlier las won a Grand Slam at the 2015 French Open in Men’s Doubles title with Marcelo Melo.
The match starts at 10:30 AM IST.
For live streaming, telecast and everything else you need to know. (AUS Open Mixed Doubles Final: — Preview, TV listing, Live streaming, Date, Time, Venue)
Source: Zee News