In a perfect climax to their stupendous run, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis were crowned the Australian Open women's doubles champions after taming the spirited Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in straight sets, in Melbourne, on Friday.
The women's doubles final though was not a stroll in the park for the World No 1 team with the Czechs putting up a great fight in the opening set.
The top seeds though had enough resources in their kitty to blunt the challenge of the Czech girls.
"I would like to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us. For me Australian Open is special, it's like home. I have special memories here. We had an incredible one year. Martina is an amazing champion and an amazing person, so it is a privilege for me to play with her," Sania said.
"We know how good you are (Czech team). We lost to you at Roland Garros. Hopefully we will have more finals to fight for," Sania said.
Martina was equally effusive in her praise for the Czechs.
"They pushed us to the limit. It was a tough tournament. We will try to defend our title next year."
In the opening set, the two pairs could manage to hold serve only twice each as it was full of breaks.
