Indian ace Leander Paes and his Swiss parter Martina Hingis won their third major grand slam mixed doubles title as they beat the American duo Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey on Friday, September 11.
The Australian Open and Wimbledon champions came back from 4-1 down in the championship tiebreak to storm to victory with a 6-4 3-6 10-7 win.
Hingis and Paes became the first duo to capture three major mixed titles in the same year since Margaret Court and Marty Riessen achieved the feat in 1969.
They reached the finals after defeating second Rohan Bopanna (India) and Yung-Jan Chan (Taiwan) 6-2, 7-5 in the semi-final held on Thursday, September 10.
“Martina said something that was quite interesting. She said you have to have the guts to go after something, and I don’t believe that I personally have the technique or the caliber of talent that Martina has. One thing I do have is the guts. I will go for it. It’s been part of my whole life is about perseverance, just trying to find a way to succeed,” Paes said after his win, which made him the most successful male tennis player in the mixed doubles format.
And here is the word of congratulations by President Pranab Mukherjee straight from the Rashtrapati Bhawan:
Meanwhile, Martina Hingis enthusiastically said, “I just love to play tennis and I am fortunate to have Leander as my partner”. The triumph earned Paes a ninth mixed doubles trophy and 17th grand slam title while Hingis took her overall grand slam tally to 18. Hingis could add to her haul on Saturday when she teams up with another Indian Sania Mirza, in the women’s doubles final.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for the next match!
(Feature image source: Reuters; With inputs from PTI and Reuters)