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What's the story?
Sania Mirza is on a comeback high and has made her way into the Women's doubles final of the coveted Hobart International 2020 along with her Ukranian partner Nadiia Kichenok.
The background
The ace Indian tennis player had taken a two-year hiatus from the sport after giving birth to her son Izhaan, who is also in Hobart. Sania's fantastic return continues at the Hobart International, which is her comeback tournament.
Earlier, the Indo-Ukranian pair of Sania-Nadiia had defeated Miyu Kato and Oksana Kalashnikova 2-6, 7-6(3), [10-3] in their round-of-16 opener before routing the American pair of Christina McHale and Vania King 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 in the all-important quarterfinal.
The heart of the matter
33-year-old Sania and Nadiia locked horns with Marie Bouzková and Tamara Zidanšek in their semifinal match. They defeated the Czech-Slovenian pair 7-6(3) 6-2 in an intense contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes and cruised into the finals.
Sania and Nadiia really had to toil hard to win the first set as it went to the tie-breaker but won the second set comfortably. They broke their opponents three times (in the 2nd, 6th, and 8th game) in the second set giving the Marie and Tamara absolutely no chance.
With this fantastic straight-set victory, Sania's dream comeback in the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) circuit continues. She would now be looking to clinch her 41st title on her 62nd WTA doubles final appearance.
The fifth-seeded combine of Sania-Nadiia will now face the second-seeded Chinese pair of Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang in the summit clash on January 18.
Peng-Zhang had comfortably defeated Australian pair of Astra Sharma and Jessica Moore in their Round of 16 encounter. They got a walkover in the quarterfinal match against Heather Watson and Arantxa Rus after the latter retired.
Interestingly enough, the Chinese pair also got a walkover in their semifinal match against Belgian duo of Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck. Alison had to withdraw from the encounter due to respiratory illness which led to Peng-Zhang getting a walkover to the final.
What's next?
After the Hobart International 2020, a former World Number 1 in doubles, Mirza will be featuring at the prestigious Australian Open 2020. She will be paired alongside Rohan Bopanna for the annual tennis extravaganza and will be in search for his first Grand Slam win after Wimbledon 2015.
