Sania Mirza set herself up for her first-ever women's doubles Grand Slam title, while seasoned pro Leander Paes is now one win away from his 16th Major trophy as the two Indians reached the Wimbledon finals with their respective partners.
India's former Davis Cup captain Akhtar Ali discusses the secret behind Leander Paes's success with Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com.
Separated in age by 25 years, their careers overlapped only briefly and Martina Navratilova, who herself won 18 Grand Slam singles crowns, never faced Serena Williams on a singles court.
Tennis great and founder of the WTA Billie Jean King was among those who applauded the announcement.
Sania Mirza says it is tough to have a better year than 2015 but she will strive hard to at least match the achievements of this season, in which she won two Grand Slams and also became world number one in individual doubles rankings.
Factbox on Iga Swiatek, who defeated Sofia Kenin to win her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open on Saturday.
Sania Mirza savoured a historic 2015 as she became the first female player from India to win a women's doubles Grand Slam title on way to becoming World No 1 even as Yuki Bhambri presented himself in a new 'avtar', raising hopes on the otherwise barren singles circuit.
Leander Paes and Martina Hingis eased into the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals of the Wimbledon championships but it was curtains for Rohan Bopanna and his Spanish partner Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis extended their winning streak to 40 after clinching the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Sunday.
Paes, Bopanna in men's doubles 3rd round
Top ranked women's doubles pair Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza had their 41-match winning streak halted on Thursday after they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open.
'Take care of yourself and see you back winning soon!'
Top-seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis entered the semifinals of the WTA Aegon International.
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis defeated Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in straight sets to virtually seal a women's doubles semi-final spot in the WTA Tennis Finals in Singapore.
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis eased into the semifinals of the WTA Rogers Cup.
She has always found her stupendous success on court go hand-in-hand with controversies off it and that is precisely the reason why Sania Mirza is hardly bothered about what a few people have to say about her.
List of leading women's grand slam singles title winners in the professional era after Serena Williams surpassed Steffi Graf by winning the Australian Open on Saturday.
The golden girls of world tennis, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis continued their dominance in the WTA doubles circuit, as they clinched their second title of 2016 by winning the Sydney International. The Indo-Swiss pair, who had won in Brisbane last week, edged out Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia 1-6, 7-5, 10-5 in the final, which was also their 30th victory in a row. However, it wasn't an easy win for the top seeds, as they showed some character to make a comeback from the verge of losing the game. "At 6-1, 5-2 the only thing we could say to each other was that it was only one break," Sania said. "That's the only positive you can find from a situation like that. We tried to hold our serve for 5-3 to give ourselves another chance, then we had a huge game at 5-3 and the momentum went in our favor," World No.1 Sania said after the win.
Navratilova, who is openly gay, said it was vital for sports stars to speak out.
India's Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova defeated China's Chen Liang and Zhaoxuan Yang 6-1, 6-1 in the final to win the women's doubles titles at Toray Pan Pacific Open, in Tokyo, on Saturday.
Leaders across the political spectrum took to Twitter on Monday morning to extend congratulations to Leander Paes and Sumit Nagal.
The Indo-Swiss duo of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis reached the final of Wuhan Open tennis tournament and is eyeing their seventh title together.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis of Switzerland stormed into the semi-finals of the Rome Masters with a straight-set victory over Julia Goerges and Silvia Soler-Espinosa on Thursday.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova on Monday embarked on her climb to the summit of Africa's highest Mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, to raise funds for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
Leander Paes and Martina Hingis thrashed Austrian-Hungarian fifth seeds Alexander Peya and Timea Babos 6-1, 6-1 to win the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon.
Many years ago, Leander Paes acted on a whim when he asked Mahesh Bhupathi, "Would you like to win Wimbledon?" and the tennis star says what followed was a partnership that brought many trophies for India.
The win burnished Murray's reputation as one of the world's leading doubles exponents,
Switzerland's Martina Hingis and Taiwan's Chan Yung-Jan won the US Open women's doubles title on Sunday
Sania Mirza reached her first Grand Slam semi-final of the year with China's Shuai Peng after outclassing Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova in the women's doubles, at the US Open, in New York.
The 42-year-old Paes now has won nine Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, surpassing compatriot and former partner Mahesh Bhupathi's record of eight titles.
While Martina Navratilova, Bjorn Bjorg, Steffi Graf, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer thrived at Wimbledon, the grass surface of the hallowed courts, says Bikash Mohapatra, also proved the graveyard of many other tennis greats.
Leander Paes, who became the oldest man to clinch a Grand Slam title in the Open era after winning the men's doubles crown with Radek Setpanek at the just-concluded US Open, says it is because of his former mixed doubles partner Martina Navratilova that he has been able to prolong his career.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the Wimbledon Champions at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Thursday
Despite a slight waver following her win over Venus Williams, Cori Gauff has taken the attention in her stride so far at the All England Club.
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis went through several anxious moments before getting past Russian girls Daria Kasatkina and Alexandra Panova in their opening doubles match at the French Open on Wednesday. The reigning Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champions prevailed 7-6(4), 6-2.
.jpg)
Sania Mirza took a giant leap towards becoming the world number one player in the doubles by pocketing 1000 ranking points, following her stupendous title win in the Miami Open with partner Martina Hingis.
The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair stormed into the final of the China Open, beating the wild card Chinese duo of Chen Liang and Yafan Wang 6-2, 6-3 in the semi-finals, in Beijing, on Friday.
Grass has always suited Roger Federer's aggressive style, which is based on footwork, pace and ability to find sharp angles.
It was a good day at office for India's mixed doubles pairs as both Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna advanced to the second round of the event with their respective partners at the Australian Open, in Melbourne, on Sunday.
Former number one Martina Hingis is not impressed by the current crop of young players whose main focus is on hitting harder, rather than developing an all-round game, the Swiss veteran said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances