Mirza happy to finish on a high

Indian star upbeat despite doubles defeat in China.
Beijing: India’s women’s tennis star Sania Mirza finished “on a high” despite going down in the women’s doubles final at the China Open here on Saturday.
Seeded No.5 with her partner Nuria Llagostera Vives, the Indo-Spanish pair dug in deep only to come out second best to No 3 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Mirza’s former partner Elena Vesnina, who won 7-5, 7-5.
Mirza and Vives led 3-0 in the opening set, but Makarova and Vesnina fought back to draw level and a second break on the Spaniard’s serve handed them the set 7-5.
The second set was a contrasting affair to the first, with the Russian duo pushing hard for an early 4-0 cushion. But Mirza and Vives did well draw level at 4-4, only to see the Indian failing to hold serve to hand the winner’s cheque of $290,800 (Dh1.067 million) to Vesnina and Makarova.

Mirza’s second mixed doubles Grand Slam title with Bhupathi came at the French Open earlier this year, but the Indian, who is based in Dubai with her cricketer husband Shoaib Malik, has struggled to find a steady partner to play with in the women’s doubles.
Following her recovery from a knee injury that put her out for some time, Mirza won the Pattaya City Open with Rodionova and the Brussels Open with American Mattek-Sands earlier this season.
But she admitted that a heavy schedule and several off-court controversies had left her wanting some time off.
“I was deciding to play in Moscow [next week], but now that we have finished here I feel very tired, and it’s 90 per cent sure I won’t be going to Moscow. It’s been a long year for me with the Olympics and playing so much on the WTA Tour,” the Indian said. “And mentally, too, I’ve had to deal with everything [happening off the court].
“It’s great to finish on a high like this. I can’t ask for a better finish to the year than this. I have been very unlucky with my partner this year with my regular partner getting hurt and injured all the time. So this has been a big week for me, and to make the final here has been great.”

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